Fool's Gold
by SirMehALot
Summary: The tiefling Ascanor, sent upon a quest to recover a unique relic, finds more than he can handle in the adventurer's party known as the Raven's Fist.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys! So glad to see you reading my books again. It's been a long two years and I've been desiring to come back to FanFiction. The only problem was I had no ideas of what to write. Yes, I know, I know, "But SirMehALot, you left such a cliffhanger in Freak Hunter you obviously have sequels in mind.". Yes, dear fan, you're correct. I did leave it up for the making of a trilogy, in fact I tampered with a sequel back in December, however, I couldn't find the words coming out and it's just sitting a half-finished draft of the first chapter. Don't give up hope, one day I may find the right combination of words to let me plow through the rest of the book. You've also got to understand how I feel about that book. That was written two years ago, and quite frankly, it's embarrassing for me to look at. I'm just too proud of it to remove it, and I have no plans to do so anytime in the future. So while you're at it, go read Freak Hunter, my misnamed magnum opus. (Not really a magnum opus.)**

 **Another problem is my shift in interests. As of June 2015, I dropped TF2 in its infamous "TF:GO" update for CS:GO. It seemed to be a better shift after three years of playing TF2. Through my year of moving up and down the ranks of Silver (stop laughing) I've begun to be fed up with it. As I write this, I'm currently redownloading TF2 to gain some inspiration and avid desire for FanFiction that inspired the spontaneous (rather ad-libbed) creation known as Freak Hunter. Plus I'm also starting to miss the Sandvich-Fest known as TF2.**

 **I've also been** _ **extremely**_ **busy with school. Sophmore year isn't easy, no matter what anyone thinks. I also participated for my first time in the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) back in November. So obviously I have been spending the past eight months plowing through that mess of a draft to make it into a full fledged novel. However, like any monotonous task, it's begun to grow dull and I needed a change of pace. So here, I present a new book set in the Forgotten Realms. I haven't had much experience with Dungeons and Dragons besides designing a few adventures that have never been used, but I'm a die hard fantasy fan and I love Forgotten Realms. So here, I present a tale of magic and family issues known as Fool's Gold, posted (hopefully) every Friday.**

The fox leapt nimbly onto a log and sniffed the air, its breath clouding in the icy, midnight air. It opened its mouth, letting the smells of the forest floor drift to the receptors in roof of its mouth. A rabbit crouched in a bush in front of it. The fox licked its maw at the smell of its fear, but it pushed itself onward. It would have plenty of food later, but only if it got moving. It leapt a brook and veered left, towards a very dim source of light only its fox eyes could see at this distance. As the light grew, shapes manifested around it, growing into hunched shadows around a crackling fire. The fox entered the camp and leapt into the air, landing on its feet in human form.

The human sitting across the fire held up a finger, downing the last of the booze from his wooden cup. "Ah, Sharyas, you've returned to us. Do you bring us news?"

Sharyas gazed hypnotically at the fire. "Mmm, no one was following him."

The elf, sitting quietly over on the other side of the clearing looked up from his book. "Then what shall we do with him?" He gestured to the scowling tiefling tied up to the tree in front of them.

The human snorted. "Kill him, push him into the fire, it makes no difference to me. Nothing but a worthless demonspawn."

The tiefling chuckled, a deep warble rising from his throat. "I take it you're not a fan."

The elf snapped a finger. "Perhaps we shall let Sharyas have him."

Sharyas licked her lips. "I _do_ enjoy this idea."

"Very well, he's all yours."

Sharyas got up and walked around the fire, leaning down to bring her face mere inches from the tiefling's glowing golden orbs. "Hey," she said softly. "You're pretty cute." She tickled his nose, but the tiefling's face didn't twitch. She felt heat beginning to rise up her neck. "Y-you've ever been with a kitsune before?"

The tiefling remained apathetic. "W...what?" He leaned over, looking behind her, and bellowed a laugh. "Why, you only have two tails!" He laughed. "You're but a kit!"

Sharyas' face simmered in heat. "That's kit _sune_ , to you, demonspawn."

"And what's with all these hateful comments? You don't hear _me_ poking fun at your heritage."

The elf set down his book. "I believe we are quite within our rights Mr. Tiefling, you have, after all, intruded within our camp."

The human pulled his half-moon axe menacingly. "And we'd like answers to that as well. You wouldn't want to lose your precious horns, would you, demonspawn?"

"For the first thing, the name isn't demonspawn, nor is it Mr. Tiefling. It's Ascanor, Ascanor Fireborn."

The elf smiled. "It seems he's decided to show some civility. Very well, my name's Alandil. You've met Ereven and his...axe, and our dear kitsune, is Sharyas."

Ascanor turned away. "Nice to meet you." He muttered.

"Now it's only polite to ask our question. Why were you snooping about our camp?"

"I've told you already. I was not _snooping_ , I was traveling. I saw the light and had to see if it was worth my trouble. Then Imbecile over here decided his axe was necessary."

Ereven rose from his seat. "Why you-"

"Enough, comrade." Alandil held up a pale hand. "Now is not the time for whatever revenge you may deem necessary. Now Ascanor, why are you _here_ in the forest, anyways."

"To hurt my feelings." Sharyas sulked at the edge of the clearing, stroking one of her burnished tails.

Ascanor smiled. "All in a day, darling. No, what my business here is none of your business."

Alandil frowned. "Hmm, truly unfortunate. Very well, I guess I have no choice but to give you over to Ereven then."

Ereven grinned maliciously. "Ooh I'm going to have fun ridding this world of you."

"Save me his tail!" Sharyas said. "Only two tails." She muttered.

Ascanor winced, his tail curling defensively around the trunk of the tree. "Alright!" He sighed. "I...I've been sent on a quest by my _father_. A relic, long lost by my clan, is hidden in a temple somewhere in this forest."

"That's it?" Alandil flipped the pages of his book in boredom.

"You need more?"

"Well if you'd excuse this, I'd think you're here to sabotage us."

"Sabotage you? Why?"

"You mean you've never heard of us?"

"No?"

"What?" Ereven heaved himself up. "You mean you've never heard of the slayers of the Sirens? Bane of liches everywhere? You've _never_ heard of the Raven's Third Toe?"

Alandil rubbed his eyes. "Raven's _Fist_ , Ereven. Remember? You made up that other name drunk."

"I think he might be a little bit drunk now." Sharyas muttered, quiet enough to desire no one to hear, but loud enough to make sure everybody did anyways.

"Oh yeah, Raven's Fist. You're telling me you've never heard of the Raven's Fist?" Ascanor shook his head. "Oh man you're missing out! Always going around slaying monsters and-"

"Ereven." Alandil warned.

"Right. So what do we do with this guy?"

Alandil clapped his book shut and stood up. "Well there's only option for us at this point. We have to bring him along with us."

"What?" Ereven and Ascanor said in unison.

"Yes, isn't it obvious? We were sent here to slay a hydra said to rest within an ancient temple. It sounds to me like we may be searching for the same location. If we let him go, we'll just end up seeing each other again anyways. Besides, he may prove a valuable ally."

"Absolutely no way! There is no way I'm fighting with a stinking tiefling."

Ascanor snorted. "As if that wasn't offensive, it's more so to make me fight with the one who said it."

Alandil frowned. "Now, I never said anything about fighting together, I only imply we travel together."

Ascanor harrumphed. "Fine."

Alandil came over and untied Ascanor's binds. He flexed his arms for good measure. Alandil tossed over a belt. "You may take your scabbards now."

Ascanor clasped it around his waist. "Thanks."

Sharyas walked past him, giving a playful swish with her tails. Ascanor turned crimson. "Did you uh-"

She stopped. "Hm?"

"What you said, before I mean, did you mean it?"

She giggled, lightly tapping his nose. "A fox never lies." She jumped, shifting into a fox, before disappearing into the trees.

Ascanor reached out a hand.

Alandil chuckled. "I wouldn't worry, Ascanor, she always manages to handle herself. Always has."

The clearing in which they made camp sat at the top of a small slope. It followed down into a small bowl in which only a single tree rest on the ground. Ascanor stamped down the hill and investigated. Ereven shoved past. "Do you even have any idea where you're going?"

"Perfectly. Do you?"

"Well...Alandil has the...the map but yeah, I totally know where we're going."

Ascanor nodded, and continued ahead. He circled the tree, drawing a claw along its rocky, rough bark. "Hmm, it seems this fell recently. It still contains water."

Alandil snapped his fingers, a wispy ball of light floating lazily above them. "Then it would seem whatever caused this is still in the area."

Ereven drew his axe. "Let's take it down, maybe we can get some extra gold!"

"Now, now, don't be going rushing into another fight already. We've just now gotten your wounds healed."

Ascanor snorted from across the clearing.

Ereven scowled. "And what's so funny?"

He held up a finger.

"Don't you ignore me!"

"Be quiet!" Ascanor turned around, his brow clenched in concentration. In his hand, he held a small lump of stone. He cursed, hanging his head. "Lost it."

Alandil scratched his chin. "Lost what. What is that you hold?"

Ascanor held it out, a small relief of a horned head. It'd been roughly hewn from a single stone into a small square profile of a smiling demon. "It's a carving from the temple, the only relic my father gave to me for my use. I've developed a special spell, through a lot of research and experimentation, that draws upon the essence contained within the world. It can then focus this essence and hone in on its source. In other words, it can find the longest resting place of any object or person from anywhere in the planes."

"You...are a wizard?"

"Why, yes, of course. Why?"

"My pardons, I just thought with your two blades that-"

"What, these old things?" He shook the scabbards of his knife and sword. "Well, I can use them too. But the arcane arts are my true expertise."

Ereven snorted. "Someone's quite full of themselves, aren't they?"

"Based on the size of your armor, I assume you're talking about yourself."

Alandil stamped his foot. "Now that's enough. If you two won't get along I'll have Sharyas Bind the both of you to rocks. She'd enjoy it too."

Ascanor exhaled sharply and stomped up the other side of the bowl. He gripped the relic harder, closing his eyes. "I need to try and get the source again. The spell must be refreshed every hour, or I lose the sense of direction." He furrowed his brow before smiling. "I've got it. Follow me."

Ereven took the vanguard. "You lead me, I'll take you there."

Ascanor scowled, but pointed farther down the path. "That way."

The path snaked up the other side of the bowl, turning right before widening. Ascanor peered up at swaying branches of the trees. Alandil followed his gaze. "I've heard tieflings possess great vision in the dark."

"That's correct."

"Tell me, what is it like?"

"What's it like? Well...uh...I've never really thought about. I've just taken it for granted. It's like...I guess like looking in daylight, but sharper, since we're born not as good in bright light. I can see sharply, It's total darkvision.."

"Hmm, I see. Fascinating."

Ereven looked over. "You're going to have to pardon our elf. He's a little...eccentric when it comes to knowledge."

Ascanor shrugged. "It sounds like a fascinating life."

He growled, but said nothing.

The path turned left, opening into a large clearing. Ascanor's ears twitched, he could hear the rush of water beyond the trees in front of them as well as to their left as it wrapped around the clearing. They stopped as a fox leapt from the bushes. Sharyas panted. "Ah, I'm glad I found you guys before it was too late."

Alandil frowned. "Too late for what?"

"Ah, I smelled them back at the camp, but they didn't seem to be a threat until now, since we've gotten too close."

Ascanor's knife rasped from its sheath, a blue cone appearing in his right fist. "What was a threat?"

She giggled. "Yuan-ti, silly!"

Alandil drew his silvery bow and an arrow from the quiver at his hip. "It would appear we've stumbled upon their nest."

Several figures slid from behind the trees, drawing swords and bows. One slithered forward, clasping its hands. It wore an adorned circlet of silver, a carved gem embedded in a ring between its glowing, acid green eyes. "Travelers," it hissed, "welcome to our nest. We will gladly give you passage to the stream beyond, as it seems a vital destination for those like yourself. All for a small fee, of course."

Ereven laughed heartily. "You must take us for fools." He drew his axe. "Fat chance."

Ascanor and Alandil nodded, readying their weapons.

The snake hissed in anger. "Then you leave us no choice."


	2. Chapter 2

The yuan-ti leapt from the woods, blades pointed at the adventurers. Ascanor rolled away as a point drove into the ground where his head had been. He tossed the magic missile in his hand towards the monster before readying another. The creature hissed as the magical bolt struck it in the face. It dropped its blade, grasping its face. Ascanor, seizing the opportunity, spun in with his sword, slashing sideways. The yuan-ti's arm fell off before Ascanor twisted back around and delivered the final blow.

"Please," Alandil shot an arrow into the elbow of a yuan-ti, making it drop its sword, "try not to kill them. This could prove to be a lucky chance to discover this species."

Ereven drove his axe into the hissing face of a yuan-ti archer. "Forget that! This scum needs to die."

Ascanor cleared his throat. "Behind you." He shot a missile through the creature's throat. It gurgled, collapsing to the ground in a pool of its acidic blood. Ascanor pulled the tails of his overcoat back as one hacked up a corrosive gob at him. His stomach churned at the sight. "Watch out guys, these things can spit."

Alandil nodded. "Most interesting. It appears to be a specially developed corrosive venom that runs through their bodies. This is unlike any species I have ever seen recorded. Interesting indeed."

"For the love of gods, who gives a crap!" Ereven bellowed as he drove his axe clean through a yuan-ti's sword into the snake's skull. "Kill them!"

"But this could be quite the opportunity for research!" The elf spun as a snake spat at the ground beneath his feet. He scowled at the smoke rising from the tails of his cloak. Without taking a chance to aim, he let an arrow fly straight through the snake's forehead, dropping it dead instantly.

Ascanor somersaulted past another gob of hissing goo. "Does the fox just not fight or-"

"Oh, she's around here somewhere."

A globe of fire hissing between Ascanor's horns, exploding in the face of a yuan-ti. Sharyas dropped down from a tree, small orbs of fire dancing around her tails. She giggled. "Always where you least expect it." She jumped in the air, flipping over a yuan-ti. As she jumped, she lightly touched the ground beneath its tail. The ground rippled, tossing the snake into the air as a massive hand rose to launch it into the sky. Ascanor frowned, the skewed magical essence alignment apparent to him. The hand crumbled under the weight of the snake, who moved to attack the kitsune, who hurled ball of fire into its face. She giggled again, obviously ignoring her magical mishap, as she spun several more orbs of fox-fire into her hands. She disappeared into the shadows, the only sign of her movement the dancing balls within her hand.

Ascanor, lost in trance, ducked, narrowly missing the slash of a yuan-ti. Something green dripped from the sword to his skin. He yelped as his skin shriveled and hissed. Sweeping the snake's body from underneath he rolled away from the monster. As the creature fell it dropped its sword. Ascanor howled as the blade plunged into his upper arm. He felt the venom spread into his arm, like a thousand bees tearing their way through his flesh. He reached deep into himself, drawing upon all the magical energy he could find. He could sense it coalescing into cones around him. With a roar, he sent the missiles out at once, like a chorus of screaming banshees. When he opened his eyes, he saw corpses lying in the swimming murk of his vision. He stumbled along the ground. Where are they? His lips felt like sandpaper, his throat like the Tortured Land. He took another step when his legs turned to rubber and he crashed to the ground. He struggled, trying to pull himself up. Something landed on his back, grabbing him and pulling him up. He turned around, the sylvan face of the elf distorted like his eyes became warped glass.

"Oh dear, he appears to have strained himself." Alandil's voice sounded like he was in water.

"P-p..." Ascanor struggled with consciousness. He fell to his knees.

Alandil knelt down. "What is it?"

" _Poison_." His vision went black as the ground met his face.

Ascanor lay on the ground, unconscious. Alandil placed a thin hand on his forehead. He shook his head. "I do not know if it his tiefling flesh or a fever."

Sharyas' face wrinkled. "He smells dead already."

"Well, he will be very soon if we don't get an antidote in him."

Ereven scoffed from where he polished his axe. "Leave him for the crows. He's no better than the yuan-ti."

Irritation crept into the elf's silken voice. "You know he's half human. You're practically related."

"Yeah, and half demon. I never asked for him to come along. I say let him die, he's just one less abomination in this-" He yelped as Sharyas slapped him hard across the face.

"Now that's no way to talk about him. He saved our lives. You should be _thankful_."

Ereven looked away, nursing the bruising cheek. "Good thing I won't have to tell him."

Alandil scowled. "I'm losing him. Sharyas, I need an antidote now."

"Well I don't know how to combat poison."

"But you _do_ know the easiest way to find plants. Quick, I need the stalk of the spongeleaf, some Nectar of Asterias, and a Flowercap Toadstool."

She nodded, morphing into a fox. "My nose is the best around, I will be back quickly."

"Unfortunately, you can't afford any other speed." He ran his fingers across Ascanor's forehead, pulling back the sweat. He gave it a sniff. "There is a great amount of venom in his body. I was not aware the yuan-ti would coat their blades in their blood, otherwise I would not have let such an unarmored man get so close. His body is desperately trying to eject as much of the venom as it can, but it's a losing battle." Alandil pulled a small vial from the folds of his shirt. "I'll give him a healing potion, but it'll only delay the effects." He pulled off the cork, tipping Ascanor's mouth open. The tiefling's face relaxed as the liquid poured down his throat. "There, now we can only wait." Ereven said nothing. "I would like to know why you are so against another comrade. It seems like this battle ended much quicker than our last."

"We were fighting a displacer beast, Alandil."

"Yes, I was there. All records I am aware of place the displacer at the same relative strength to yuan-ti. And we fought many more today."

"Whatever."

"It seems to me like you cannot tolerate those stronger than you."

He laughed. "You call this stick stronger than me? Look at him, he's all bark and no bite!"

"I saw him take down one single-handedly."

"I took down eight. It's not that impressive."

"He took down one with his _sword_ , however, I saw seven fall from his magical barrage."

"That means..." he counted on his fingers, "we're even?"

"Correct."

Sharyas jumped from the brush, plants hanging from her muzzle. Alandil took the plants and began to crush them. "Thank you, my friend. Although I don't recall fox spittle being an ingredient."

Sharyas snorted as she sat down to lick her paws. She watched the goings with interest. Alandil finished mashing the ingredients with a small, rounded pestle. He placed the pulp into a small device of two bowl shaped presses that fit into each other. He closed the device, pouring the liquid that oozed out into a small vial. He smiled. "Finished. There is enough for seven doses here, just in case the first one does not soak up the venom." He poured a small bit into Ascanor's mouth before letting the tiefling rest. "We will have to wait here until he wakes."

Sharyas, having stacked a small pyramid of sticks, played with a small ball of fire the size of a marble. She let it roll off her fingertips into the kindling, setting it ablaze. "Very well." She morphed, curling up beside the fire. Faint snores could be heard from where Ereven sat. Alandil smiled, taking one more look at his patient before he too fell asleep.

Ascanor cracked his eyes open at the rising rays of the sun reflecting off the cracked oak floor. He pulled his hand off his forehead, drawing back beads of sweat. Groaning, he untwisted the drenched mess of sheets and pulled himself out of bed. He shuffled over to the door and pulled it open, his eyes dilating to the drastic darkness beyond. He frowned. For twenty-two years he'd been greeted by the same, unchanging darkness of the manor. Though his father didn't approve and proved so through the entire manor, Ascanor enjoyed the sun, and welcomed it everyday through his windows.

He shuffled down the steps, running his claws along the lacquered oak banister, feeling the grain within the slick surface. He pushed through the heavy oak doors into the kitchen, and sat down at one of the small tables reserved for the clan when no one was being hosted. He sat down, scratching at his morning stubble, as one of the chefs silently dropped a plate of fruit and sausage in front of him. He lost himself in the food, not noticing one of the servants approach him.

"Morning, Iaris." He addressed the golem.

"Morning, sir. Your father is expecting you in his study."

Ascanor sighed. "First thing in the morning?"

"He told me to tell you as soon as you woke."

Of course, that meant as soon as he left his room. No servant dare enter as they remained unaccustomed to brighter light. He was responsible for his own cleaning in return for his reward. "Very well. I see another one of his discoveries has been made."

"Quite, sir."

Ascanor sighed. "Do you have to agree with everything I say?"

"Yes, sir."

"You're dismissed." Ascanor tried to eat the rest of the fruit, but it just kept going down sour. He left the rest in the plate for the cooks to clean up, promptly leaving for the main hallway. He slowly padded down the plush hall, hiding within his shoulders from the view of the scowling paintings of his ancestors. Why it seemed necessary to hang them in an area of main traffic was beyond him. He stopped at the familiar oak carvings of the door to his father's study. He grasped the knocker, the iron tongue of a similarly iron wolf, and rapped on the door.

"Come in."

Ascanor opened the door, his vision clouding at the acrid smoke of the cigar protruding from his father's mouth. His brow furrowed as he continued to examine the documents in front of him, not once did his eyes rise to meet his son's. Ascanor shivered at the air of the room and sat down promptly in the velveteen chair facing his father's desk. His father said nothing, his mouth twitching to release puffs of green smoke into the musky air. Ascanor cleared his throat, bringing his father's gaze up. "Is there something you want, boy?"

"You asked for me, Father."

"Ah, indeed I did." He looked back down at the papers.

"Is...it important?"

"Yes. Have you heard of the Temple of the Two Priests?"

"I have not, sir."

"Well, there is a legend in a book I recently purchased from town on tiefling history that tells of a temple in the Snakewood told to be one of the original temples used to summon Asmodeus by our ancestors."

His eyes widened. "By the first tieflings?"

"Precisely. The tale says the temple was led by a set of twins, called the Two Priests. It says they used a very powerful, and very expensive, relic in their expedition into cohorts with Asmodeus."

Ascanor frowned. "Then why are we talking about such a horrid place?"

"Because, I believe the relic to still be there. It's made of very valuable materials, which would make a great addition to my collection." He set down a chunk of rock onto the desk. "This was for sale at the market this past week."

Ascanor picked it up. He quickly dropped it back on the desk upon viewing the infernal carving. "What's so special about it?"

"It's been rumored to come from the Snakewood, from the Temple of the Two Priests."

"So it's been uncovered?"

"It was never hidden. However, rubble has collapsed the entrance and everyone refuses to go in. Well, except for you."

Of course. "Then I shall recover the relic for you, father." He placed the carving in his pocket and turned to leave.

"And one more thing. Don't you _dare_ fail me again, boy. This _will_ be the last time."

Ascanor bowed, and left without a word.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N Hey guys, I would like to offer an apology as to this late chapter. Thanks to a certain Internet Service Provider (whose** **name begins with Century) my "upgraded bandwidth" resulted in a total loss of fiber optic use. DSL and Phone are both disabled. Anyways, don't think I've forgotten about you or this book. I do have to say production of this story is beginning to slow, and I'm not sure at this time if I will be able to keep up with Friday deadlines. Nonetheless, I do have six chapters written, meaning I've only published half of what I've written. Stay patient, and stay tuned. And also, a big shout out to everyone who's read the book so far. I hope you've been enjoying it!**

Ascanor sat up. He blinked. Where am I? I was...home. No, I wasn't. He looked around. Sharyas sat against a tree, her cheeks blazoned red as she watched him. When he locked with her gaze, she blushed farther and dropped her gaze. Ascanor grinned pointedly and stretched. "Mmm, where is everybody?"

She continued to stare across the clearing. "Ereven decided not to wait for you to heal, so he and Alandil continued ahead while leaving me to get you when, or if, you woke."

"If I woke? What do you mean?" He sucked through his teeth at the searing pain in his arm. It came flooding back. He grunted. "Right. So, should we be going?"

She nodded quickly and strode off quickly, putting as much distance between the two as possible. Ascanor jogged to catch up, but his lungs began to burn before long and he had to slow. They came across the river and a small series of shallow rapids that made the best crossing area. Sharyas leapt deftly from dry rock to rock and crossed without a drop on her. Ascanor plodded along, silently praising his decision to waterproof his boots. They veered a sharp left at the other side and began to follow the river downstream. Ascanor strained his ears, but heard nothing more than animals and wind whistling through the leaves. "How far out could they get? How long was I out?"

"Six hours."

"Six hours? How on Faerun do you expect to find them?"

She huffed. "My senses are ten times better than yours, and they only left half an hour before you woke. You will let _me_ find them."

Ascanor sidled away slowly. He could almost feel her chilly attitude from where he strode. They continued on in silence, Sharyas easily clearing every obstacle while Ascanor stumbled through with his bulky gear. His ears twitched at a strange sound rising above the ambiance of the forest. It sounded like...shouting? Sharyas stopped, she'd heard it too. Quickly morphing she took off towards the source. Ascanor thudded across the ground. "Wait up!" He squinted at the stinging plants that grasped his clothes as he shot past.

He burst out onto a large clearing on the edge of the water. Alandil and Ereven stood at the edge, their attention on a slimy creature shifting through the water. Ascanor inhaled sharply as the creature's three, vertically placed eyes, opened to scowl malevolently at the intruders. He'd seen pictures in books before of the ancient aboleths. He'd hoped never to see one in person. Ascanor stifled a yelp. "Guys, get back. _Now._ "

Ereven slowly spun around, a dazed look plastered across his face. "Now...why would I want to do that?"

Ascanor cursed. They'd already been taken. Alandil, head half cocked to the side, smiled. "The experience is so...educational. You simply must try it, Ascanor."

"No thanks, I'd rather pass." He headed to leave into the forest.

Sharyas leapt in front of him. "Where do you think you're going?"

"What's it matter to you?"

"You can't just leave with them like _that._ "

"Sure I can, and I am."

"You have to help them."

"They're nothing to me!" He waved her off.

As he passed, she grabbed him by the wrist, pulling him back to her face. " _Please!_ "

He sighed. "No."

She huffed. "Then I'll do it myself." She began to head out into the clearing. Alandil shifted, remembering their first fight together. He groaned. "Stop. I'll do it."

She smiled.

He leaned over to her ear. "Wait in the trees for when I call out."

She nodded, quickly disappearing into the dim underbrush.

Ascanor strode over to the waiting creature at the bank, pushing past the drone-like Ereven and Alandil. They gave no resistance to his passing. So it thinks I'm no threat. He looked down at the creature with contempt. "You have something of mine. These people, they have no purpose to me, they are no problem of mine. You could have taken them and gone. Had I left, you could have. But not anymore. Bring them back, _now._ "

A voice echoed into his mind. A rattling, raspy noise that could only have been a laugh. _No._ _These have become mine, for eternity._

Ascanor grunted. "Then we'll just have to see about that."

The aboleth laughed again. _I like you, tiefling. You have quite the tenacious attitude. If you leave now, I'll give her to you. She can be all yours._

Ascanor's face heated up. "Impossible, I have severed all ties beyond my mind." _It couldn't have been able to reach me._

 _Oh, but I always could. And have._

Ascanor bared his fangs.

The aboleth wheezed a sigh. _You still think you stand a chance. I will enjoy absorbing your consciousness._

Quick as lightening a tentacle whipped out of the water, leaving a cleave in the ground where the tiefling once stood. He smiled, unharmed at the side, as he wiped a strand of algae off one of his horns. "Let the games begin."

The aboleth raised three more tentacles, driving four repeatedly into the ground. Ascanor had little time beyond his feet touching the ground before he was back in the air. His feet began to cramp, and his stamina quickly decayed before he finally made a mistake. He somersaulted again, but the aboleth had anticipated his repeated movement. A tentacle rose, a crossing beam in his path. His breath ripped out of his lungs as the tentacle drove him across the clearing into a tree trunk. With a sharp snap Ascanor flopped onto the ground. He took the screaming pain in his back, and the fact that he could slightly move his body, that it'd been the tree that snapped. He fumbled with a small flap in his jacket, pulling a vial of bright red liquid out of it. He downed the fruity contents, able to get back onto his feet in seconds. He threw down the potion vial and pulled his knife. "Well then, let's make things interesting."

The tentacles came all at once, from different sides. He turned, perpendicular to the creature, and straightened as hard as he could. Two tentacles passed harmlessly by, while the third received a deep gash as it drove itself across his extended knife. The aboleth screeched in pain, a sharp knife driven into Ascanor's mind. He tried to focus on the creature's connection to his mind, but the noise broke his focus. The aboleth leered at him. _I will devour you._ It hissed into his mind.

Ascanor smiled. "You can try."

Its eyes turned to the two men, who had watched the fight in their hypnotized daze. _Get him._ They nodded, their expressions turned stormy.

Ereven drew his axe. "Demon scum." He growled, brandishing the weapon with menace.

Alandil notched an arrow and pulled the string back. "A wonderful time to see the true power of your heritage. Quite the learning experience."

Ascanor smiled, looking not at them but at the aboleth. He sheathed his knife. "You can't make me fight them."

 _I can._ Ascanor gasped as he felt the ground drop beneath his feet. The creature had him with its mind. Slowly, he began to drift towards the waiting pointy ends of his companions' weapons. He kicked, frantically trying to break the steely grip of the aboleth's mind. He tensed, sensing a rapid shift in the magical essence beneath the earth. With a a sudden rush, the earth erupted around the aboleth, a spike driving into the creature's semblance of a temple. It did no more than shatter against its rubbery flesh, but it provided enough of a distraction to break the creature's grip on Ascanor. The two looked over into the woods, where nothing more than an echoing laugh remained.

Ascanor dropped to the ground and smiled, mouthing a silent thanks to the kitsune. "Time to bring out some special spells." He reached into the air, drawing the lines of magic towards his body in a massive funnel. Slowly, he began to rise off the ground. Alandil, following his ascent with the tip of his arrow, let one fly. Ascanor's blade darted from its sheath, slicing the arrow in half between Ascanor's fingers. Alandil frowned. "Impossible."

 _He got lucky._ The aboleth could read the tiefling's amazement. _Fire another, he won't manage it again._

Ascanor ceased the levitation spell, dropping mere inches below a whistling arrow. He created a magic missile, launching it into the elf. He nimbly dodged the screaming cone, but Ascanor curved the magical essence around the elf, driving the cone into Alandil's bow. The weapon exploded in a cloud of blue energy, leaving nothing more than trace wisps of ash. With one down, Ascanor turned his attention to Ereven. Ascanor wheezed as the hulking, armored man slammed into him. Ascanor rolled onto his back and heaved. "Why don't you just take my lungs? Obviously you don't want me to use them." He squinted, barely able to see the man's driving axe between the clouds of darkness in his vision.

Quick as a flash, his two blades bit into the half moon axe. Ascanor shifted the axe off his knife, twisting Ereven's grip with his hilt. He channeled energy into his fingers, lime green sparks dancing among his fingertips. "Time to finish this." He flicked his wrist, sending a small arrow of acid through the shaft of Ereven's axe. With a snap, the head broke off, flicked away harmlessly by Ascanor's sword.

Ereven stood dumbfounded with the melting shaft in his hand. Ascanor got to his feet and shoved him aside, his infernal heritage burning within his eyes as he turned his gaze to the glowering aboleth. The creature, seeing its pawns defeated, howled in anger. _If I must do it myself, so be it._ Tentacles rose from the water, lifting the aboleth's mottled, prawn-like body out of the water. Ascanor smiled, whistling. "Now, Sharyas!"

With a giggle, the kitsune dropped from a branch overhanging the aboleth, unleashed a furious series of foxfire. The creature screamed in pain, its respiration mucous evaporating within the nonstop onslaught of fire. Within seconds, the creature's flailing slowed, and stopped. Sharyas, rapidly losing adrenaline, sank to her knees. Ascanor rushed over, but she shrugged him off. "I don't need _your_ help."

The two men groaned, the spell broken on the death of their master. Ereven collapsed in a heap of armor. "What happened?"

Alandil's brow wrinkled. "It appears we'd been taken by an aboleth. It's apparent that creature has died."

Ereven nodded. "Thanks Sharyas."

Ascanor started to speak, but a scathing glare from the kitsune shut his mouth.

Ereven rolled to his side, noticing the remains of his axe. "What in the Nine Hells did you do?" He roared.

Alandil fingered his broken string. "Yes, my bow seems to suffered the same."

Ascanor sighed. "Relax, I can fix it." He aligned the magical lines within each weapon, fusing the two pieces together with a bond stronger than iron. The weapons looked good as new, except for the telltale split in both. Ereven gave his axe a few test swings. "I guess it's okay then."

Alandil twanged his bow. "It will be adequate."

"Yeah, but don't touch it again, tiefling. I'm warning you."

Ascanor waved them away. "You're welcome."


	4. Chapter 4

**Fun Fact: Sharyas is actually a name I found with a** _ **halfling**_ **name generator. Sharyas was originally going to be a halfling before I considered adding a non-canon race to the mix. She then went from halfling to a mix of both halfling** **and** **kitsune, before I dropped the idea for a full-blooded kitsune that's present in the story today. Also, another shout out to everyone reading the book. You're the true heroes here. Thank you so much for your support! (On a further note:) Sorry about another late chapter. Good news and bad news. Good news, my Internet is** _ **finally**_ **fixed! Bad news, I'm on vacation. So don't be too insulted by no chapter being uploaded this Friday, I'm taking time off. Hey, stay tuned next Friday for my new chapter.**

He walked over to where Sharyas tottered against a tree. He sat down next to her. "Are you sure you're okay?"

She looked away. "I'm fine."

"Are you ignoring me for some specific reason or just because?"

"Can't you just leave me alone?"

Ascanor shrugged and backed off. He moved over to the side of the clearing and sat down. He hadn't noticed the fatigue of the Trap Bomb spell until now. He shook the dizziness from his head and took a swig of water from his skin. Ereven sat down next to the tiefling with a rattle of his armor. "So, you've done it again."

"Done what?"

"You've come into a fight you don't need to involve yourself in and you fight with us. Why?"

Ascanor thought about it. "I...well...I guess I can say I've never really had friends before."

He laughed. "Seriously?"

Ascanor nodded.

"Oh, sorry. That's got to be hard."

"You numb to it after a while. I've only ever had my father. Well, as well as the staff in the manor, but they've never been any fun."

"Hold on, _manor_? You're wealthy?"

"No, my father is."

"Oh. You don't have any siblings?"

"No, tieflings are slaughtered should they be born hideous."

"Gods! That sounds awful."

"Yeah, I'm supposed to consider myself _lucky_." He sat silent for a moment. "Why are you being nice to me?"

"What?"

"Why are you treating me this way all of a sudden?"

"When you got poisoned I had time to think while we rested and well...I guess I've realized you're not as bad as I thought. I will never trust anything that's evil, but you've proved yourself to not be evil at all, so I guess you deserve another chance. No offense, but I expected you to stab us in the back. But then you went and got stabbed by that snake, and you still managed to kill the rest before they could attack us. And I guess that even though you broke our weapons, I guess had you not we would have used them against you. I guess what I'm trying to say is you're not an enemy I'd want."

"You mean it?"

"Of course." His attitude turned stormy as he held his axe to the tiefling's throat. "But you listen and you listen good. If you ever, _ever_ abuse this trust, I'm going to kill you, chase you down into the Nine Hells, and do it again. When we're done here, you're going to leave me and my friends alone. _Forever_. Am I clear?"

Ascanor, paled to a bright pink, nodded.

Ereven smiled and held out his hand. "Good. Welcome to our little gang."

Ascanor grasped it and shook it proudly. "I'm honored. This may sound weird, but may I ask you a question?"

"I see nothing wrong with that."

"Do the others still hate me? Sharyas is acting so...weird today. "

"She's got a real right to. Just because our minds were possessed, doesn't mean they weren't there. I heard the way you talked to her. You spat on her today, and how dare you do such a thing."

Ascanor hung his head. "You all have real reasons to hate me I take it."

He shook his head. "I wouldn't blame yourself. Alandil's just always like that. Some days you've got to look out for yourself, because he may not be. I wouldn't let that bother you. And Sharyas? That's just her. She's hard to interpret. She gets this way when she uses her kitsune powers."

"She doesn't like to?"

"Beats me. Like I said, she's hard to interpret. I let her go on her own devices and things always work out. But mark my words, don't you dare ever say things like that to her again." He clapped Ascanor on the back, knocking the wind out of him with his armored hand. "We've got your back if you've got ours."

Ascanor smiled and leaned back against the tree. "Good to hear." He closed his eyes.

"You okay?"

"Tired. Haven't practiced that spell much, takes a lot out of me."

"I've never seen anything like that. Where did you find it?"

"I made it."

"You can make _spells_?"

"My dad is a...collector of sorts. He's got many old books, _rare_ books. There's a lot of lost knowledge hidden in his stash. That's also where he got this." He pulled out the carving. "And also why I'm here."

Ereven nodded. "What's so important about the temple?"

"It's a site of my heritage. Well, of the first tieflings. I hold no desire to relate myself to them. It's got an interesting and rather expensive relic hidden within."

"Yes that's quite similar to what I've read." Ascanor hadn't heard Alandil come up to them. "I've read text of this temple. No one knows much, but they found it mere weeks ago. It's just a shame it's been sealed up by time. You see, they got through most of the rubble when they found traces of the hydra and they backed out. It'd taken up residence within. So, now you know our job just as much as we know yours."

"You guys, you really mean everything you say?"

"Of course."

Ascanor smiled. "Let's get going."

Together they slipped down into the water. Ascanor sloshed along the bank so as to not soak himself, meanwhile Ereven forced his way through the center. Ascanor didn't know if the warrior's armor was waterproof or if Ereven even cared. The water only rose to his chest, so he wouldn't drown. Ascanor palmed the carving, closing his eyes. He could see the plane in front of him, devoid of all but a small speck of light to his forward-left. They were on the right track, but the temple was still downstream. Who knew what lay ahead. He opened his eyes, the destination imprinted on his mind. He drew his knife for good measure.

Alandil looked back at the rasp of the sheath. "Something the matter?"

He smiled. "Just for good measure."

Alandil matched his smile, but said nothing as he turned back around. Sharyas nimbly skipped along the rocks next to him, her flowing gown devoid of water though it dipped in the water with every step. Ascanor pursed his lips. Perhaps it was a spell, and a useful one at that. He desired to learn it, but remembered the cold shoulder he'd been given earlier before he dropped the idea. He desired to talk to the kitsune for some strange reason, yet he also desired to not make relations worse than they already were. He focused on his steps, on taking one after the other, as they slowly grew closer to the dot in his mind.

The party began to pass an overgrown sandbar at the edge of a bend when Ascanor held up a hand to stop. He bent down, sticking a hand into the silty stream bottom. Alandil came over peeking over Ascanor's hunched figure. "What is it?"

Ascanor dug around in the muck, gritty pieces of sand rubbing underneath his claws. At last, he found what he'd sensed and pulled it out with a wet _pop_. Alandil squinted at the broken, flat rock the tiefling held. "I do not see anything special."

"Watch." Ascanor held the stone underneath the water and scrubbed off the lichen and mud until faint, but visible lines of writing appeared. He held it up proudly. "It's a tablet from the temple."

"How can you be so sure?"

"It's giving off the same essence as the carving, only it's fainter. This has been in the water for centuries, and has lost most of its source. I get mostly a sense of it belonging here, but I can feel the same sense towards the temple. It's over there, on the left."

Ereven followed the tiefling's extended finger. "On the other shore? Why did we come all the way out here if we were already on the side where it was?"

"Didn't you read any maps before you came?"

Alandil looked away in embarrassment. "We were not given access to resources where we were hired."

"Well, you're welcome to approach the temple from that side, if you care to scale a hundred foot cliff."

Ereven grunted and continued to struggle through the water. "This better be worth it."

They continued on another several hundred feet before Ascanor held up his hand. "We're here."

They looked around. Ereven shrugged. "I don't see anything."

"What do you mean you can't see anything? It's right there!" He pointed to a curve in the left bank, mere yards before the river sloped deeper than its previous incline down into a waterfall. Alandil took a step back. "Now is not the time for games Ascanor. The current is too great here. If we slip, we're going over the edge."

"I'm not playing anything! It's right there in front of our-wait." He stood in thought. "Yes, it's quite possible. Everybody onto the shore." Ascanor gleefully skipped across the rocks onto the sandy shore. He began to run his fingers along the ground. Alandil watched with amusement. "You're quite full of surprises, I'll give you that. But I must ask what are you doing?"

"It's simple, something I've read about before. It's a one of a kind spell, used to conceal something from everyone but the creator. It uses a rune circle and a small drop of the creator's blood to bind the spell to it."

The elf nodded. "Quite fascinating, but you can see it. Is the spell deteriorating?"

"No, that's the thing. I'm a tiefling, born of the blood of the first tieflings, the creators of the temple and this spell."

"Ah! I see. The blood of the creators runs through your veins!"

"Precisely. Now I just need to find the magical nodes containing the spell and disrupt them, so as to drop the spell. Ah, here we go." He snapped his fingers, creating sparks between them. Smoke puffed between his fingers as a stone structure wavered in front of him like a desert mirage. Ascanor smiled as the temple materialized into full view. "Here we go."

A small forest of stone pillars sprouted around their feet, the crumbling segments draped with vines and crusty lichen. The columns led back threefold before a final pair upholding a bowing stone ceiling that led deeper into the cliff. Ascanor smiled, recognizing the twisting, unique architecture of his people that brought visions of home, and with it a small twang of homesickness.

Alandil stumbled backwards, astounded. "Amazing! Millions could pass this everyday without even noticing it. Your kind could harvest this entire place without anyone knowing."

Ascanor nodded grimly and stuck his head into tunnel entrance. "Yet they only got back so far. The rubble stopped them."

Ereven groaned. "And we've got to clear it out." He clanked onto the ground. "I've got to oil my armor."

"Maybe if you didn't wear it in water you wouldn't have that problem." Sharyas muttered, her eyes trained on the woods around them.

Alandil nodded. "We shall rest. It's getting late in the day, night will come early. We should be rested in case anything comes upon us. We've already fought twice in the past half day."

Ascanor slumped against a tree, already beginning to nod off. The sun laid its warmth on his form, drawing him deeper and deeper into the pit of exhaustion. Despite what his new comrades said, he wasn't strong. He just put in too much energy. The aches of the day slowly faded as sleep finally came.

 _Ascanor stood in a room devoid of all light. His eyes shifted to darkvision, but he could only make out a faint, grey curve of the room. The darkness swirling like a living entity, a foggy murk that clouded the center of his vision, but left the peripheral unhindered. His tail slapped against the floor in thought, echoing across the room like it'd been made of stone. If it was, it'd been crafted with a finesse he'd never laid eyes upon. And on a more dreadful note, he couldn't see an exit. Something began to crackle behind him_

 _"Don't fail me again." Echoed around the room._

 _"Father?"_

 _"You've done so too many times already. Dare I mention the Sword Coast incident?"_

 _"Father I told you that's not my fault!" Ascanor huddled on the ground, desperately trying to block out the voice._

 _"Don't fail me again. Again. Again. Again. A-"_

Ascanor silently bolted awake without a movement. Already the trauma had begun to fade from the nightmare. He opened his eyes, instantly in darkvision at the response to the lack of light. Somehow, it'd already become night. His back was turned to something crackling, like a person breaking many sticks. Based on the flickering orange glow and shadows, someone had made a fire. Ascanor's ear twitched, catching a hushed argument from across the camp. He strained, trying to listen over the fire.

"-treating people that way!" The silvery voice could only belong to Alandil. "Do you think you're going to welcome new people acting like that? We're barely winning fights as we are now. We need stronger people!"

"Well what else am I supposed to do? Ereven doesn't even want him." The snappy response came from Sharyas. " And he's got a good reason too. The tiefling doesn't even want anything to do with us or with me!" She sighed. "I thought he'd be special but he's just another selfish-" she uttered something guttural in an unknown tongue.

"That he may be, but give him a chance. He saved our lives and yours too."

"And that makes him a good person?"

"He didn't have to help us. He listened to you. I think he may care about you too. And you also need to quit this fight against yourself. Have you considered accepting what you have instead of fighting it?"

"You know I can't do that! I can't _be_ like them!"

"And what you are now is any better?"

Ascanor shifted, huddling closer to himself. A sudden gust of wind blurred their words, as well as knocking the fire out. Alandil muttered something in the elven tongue and moved over to the smoldering pit to relight it, but Ascanor had already dropped back off into sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N I just wanted to thank you all again for reading my work. I put my best effort into every word that comes out onto the page and I feel downright honored you've given me the privilege to present my work to your eyes. But enough poetry out of me, you'd be doing me a huge favor by boosting this story to at** _ **least**_ **one hundred reads. That's all I'm asking for, one hundred. So if you wouldn't mind continuing to read as I publish my next chapters and hey, maybe spread the word to your friends. I mean, I'm not going to beg you, it doesn't bother me in any way. But if you did, you'd be doing me a** _ **big**_ **favor and you'd have my deepest gratitude by putting my work out deeper into the world. Thanks again for reading, and especially if you read these. I honestly wonder how many people actually do. That's enough out of me, enjoy the chapter.**

When Ascanor woke in the morning, he found himself to be the only one awake. Across from the fire, Ereven's head had slumped onto his breastplate. He snored heavily, amplified as his armor rattled along with it. Ascanor noted, appalled, he'd managed to sleep through the night with that racket. Sharyas lay curled up next to the smoldering coals, while Alandil had perched up in a tree, bow at ready. Ascanor frowned, quietly hissing up towards the sleeping elf. He opened his eyes at once and yawned. "Morning."

Ascanor nodded to the bow. "What's that for?"

He looked down, puzzled. "Shooting things, I'd expect you of all people to have seen a bow before."

Ascanor sighed, suppressing an annoyed groan. "Why do you have it _out_?"

"Oh, I decided to stand guard."

"Don't you need sleep?"

"Mmm, little at most."

"Is that what you were doing right now?"

The elf didn't respond.

Ascanor shrugged and sat down to open his pack. He rustled around, pulling out a stale piece of bread and apple. The bread was as tough as leather, and the apple's flesh had gone supple, but Ascanor didn't have enough money to be picky. As he took his first bite, Sharyas' nose twitched and she promptly woke. She shuffled over to him and smiled weakly. Ascanor returned the smile and rolled his eyes, tossing her half of the bread. She began to nibble, resting her head on his shoulder. Ascanor blushed, brick red against his crimson skin. He looked to Alandil, who chuckled softly but said nothing. Ascanor frowned. She's...attracted to me now? He blushed further as he felt his tail stir at strange feelings. And why does he act like he knows something? He sighed. This is getting more frustrating than rewarding. He sighed again, deciding to hold his tongue, but let his mind go wild. Gently, he stretched an arm around the kitsune and held her close. She shifted, sighed, but didn't protest. Ascanor's smile broadened. If only his father could see him now.

Ereven stirred, groaning as he stretched his creaking joints. As he rose, a flask clattered onto the ground. Ereven shuffled into the woods. "I gotta take a leak."

Ascanor snorted, the ripeness from his armor quickly drifting across the camp. He grunted. "Does he ever wash that stuff?"

Sharyas looked up at him, her eyes shockingly orange in the rising sun. "Never when we're watching."

"What's with the booze?"

She sniffed the air. "Frostwine, something rare from Neverwinter or somewhere up there. He always has some stored somewhere."

"You can tell from here?"

She turned up her nose. "Of course."

"Oh, um, sorry, I didn't-"

She giggled, and walked off towards the forest. "I'm off. It's breakfast time." She vanished.

Ascanor blushed again, checking quickly if the elf had noticed any of that, but his slender face bore no emotion. He looked in the direction of the north, upstream into the forest. Ascanor shifted between normal and darkvision, but couldn't make out any differences between the two. Whatever Alandil did or didn't see, only he'd be able to alert them. He stared idly at the flask. Why would the fighter need booze? Now he'd begun to think about it he'd seen the man drinking when they first tied him up back in their camp. Ascanor's stomach churned. Did the man _fight_ drunk?

Ereven stumbled back into the camp, grabbing his things. "Come on, let's get going already."

Alandil dropped to the ground. "Sharyas is not back."

"Yes I am." She came out, gnawing on an unidentifiable type of meat.

"Very well then. Let's find our way in."

He strode over to the gaping maw of the entrance. Ascanor twisted a ball of light into existence and let its light shine into the roughly hewn tunnel, however it stopped twenty feet in by overgrown rubble. Alandil pursed his lips. "We were told they'd excavated this place." He bent down to examine some dark gouges in the walls. "It appears this could be how they knew of a hydra. The shapes of these specify the claws of a hydra. Quite a one of a kind marking, but also quite old. It's been here quite a while."

Ereven smiled. "Perfect."

Ascanor snorted. "Creep." He muttered, examining the entangled magic of the rubble. "Everyone stand back. I don't know what happens when I do this." He realigned the order of the magical field, awaiting the pent up repercussions, but nothing happened. He sighed, not noticing he'd been holding his breath.

Ereven laughed. "Oh, stand back guys. Pff, clear it aside like a normal person, tiefling." He started to pull rocks from the pile and toss them out behind him. He swore, his fingers stopped by a thick vine. Taking his axe, he took a few testing swings into the vine, but its skin didn't break.

"It's a good try, Ereven, but that type of vine is as strong as iron. We need some way to burn it." Alandil noted.

Ereven nodded. "I'll go get some tinder."

Ascanor smiled. "No need." He clasped his hands together, and collapsed the air within into a small ball of fire. Holding the ball, he brought it close to the vine and began to work at the thick vine. With a small sizzle, the vine caught fire and smoldered in a sudden burst of fire. Without the support, rocks quickly began to crumble off the pile. Ereven huffed in approval, but said nothing before continuing to work.

After about an hour, Ascanor brought work to a halt. Scrambling halfway up the pile, he pressed his face to a small cranny in the rocks. He sighed, feeling the cool cavern air beyond. "We're almost through."

Ereven climbed up and pressed the tiefling aside. Taking the butt of his axe he began to knock out a hole in the wall. With little work, a decent sized opening had formed. He held his hand out to the tiefling. "After you."

Ascanor snorted. "Amusing." He dropped to the floor, the first boots to echo off this passageway in centuries. He took a deep breath, coughing as the choking dust stirred up. He pulled out a handkerchief and tied it across his mouth as the others came in behind him.

Ereven hacked. "It's like breathing in a skeleton wrapped in silverfish." He noticed Ascanor's mask. "You don't have any more of those by any chance?"

Ascanor shook his head.

Ereven grumbled and slapped a helm on his head. "Better than anything." His friends had donned similar items, a tied cloak for Alandil and a silken scarf for Sharyas. Ascanor brought his light from behind the rubble and sent it down the passageway. Fifty feet down the walls lifted away into some type of room. Ascanor crept down and peered out. The passage ended in a massive square room. He could faintly see a small rail across a small catwalk and beyond a drop to a floor below. Along the rails, three pillars supported the ceiling and rail. Ascanor shut his eyes, focusing into his hearing. A faint movement of air could be heard below.

He looked back to the group. "I believe it's downstairs."

"Do you have any idea what's down there?" Alandil asked.

"Well, I can't be certain, but I believe the main purpose of the temple is down there."

"Being?"

"I think the hydra is resting on the planar gate."

"The planar gate?"

"What my ancestors used to contact the Nine Hells. And now the hydra is nesting on it."

"I can't imagine what the magical discharge could be doing to that creature."

Ascanor nodded. "We're not going up against anything recorded before."

Sharyas frowned. "Any ideas?"

"We'll need to go in quietly." Alandil said. "Get bearings before we make any movements."

Ereven scoffed. "Come on, how hard could it be?" He passed through the group. "I'll take point."

Ascanor watched as the other passed into the chamber. His heart raced, he could go no further without answers. His hand shot out, grabbing Sharyas as she passed. "Sharyas, wait." She turned, looking at him. His confidence wilted at the mix of hatred and anguish in her waiting gaze. "What?"

"I...I don't know how to put this...well...when I'm around you I feel something I've never felt before. And...well I don't want that feeling to ever go away. Look, I've made some real mistakes, I know that, and I'm...well I'm sorry. I just don't want you to hate me, because part of me feels dead if you do."

Her brow furrowed. A second passed and her eyes widened in understanding. She drew back, a deep crimson spreading across her face. She turned away from him. "The others need us. We'd better get going."

Ascanor's head drooped, but he nodded. His eyes followed the kitsune's hustling footsteps, not daring to hold his head up. He didn't deserve to. A hole had opened up within him. He should have known she wouldn't feel the same. How could he have been dumb enough to believe someone else, let alone her, would feel the same? He sighed, letting the dejected notes echo off the stone walls as the two of them met up with the waiting others.

Ascanor came up beside the two men, resting his hands on the stone railing. He snapped out his light, letting his eyes slip into darkvision. A massive hulking shape breathed soft snores from a tangle below. Ascanor could make out no more than the soft grey shape of the hydra, but he could make out the signs of the infernal beginning to manifest in the creature. He leaned over to Alandil. "Any ideas?"

He hummed. "We'll need to get down there first. I don't know how long it's been sealed up in here, but it'd have to sleep to conserve energy. My guess would be we could get in some vital strikes before it fully awakens."

Ereven growled a soft chuckle. "Perfect. It will be dead before it knows what's happening."

"Now I wouldn't be so sure about that. They say while a hydra sleeps, one of its heads is always awake. In some way, I feel it already knows where here. Huh, this gets more fascinating as time goes on."

Ereven groaned. "Enough droning, elf, let's get to slaying." Slowly, they made their way around the catwalk until they reached an alcove Ascanor had faintly spotted. Upon inspection, they found a rudimentary set of stairs hewn from the same gritty stone as the temple. Ascanor sidled down the steps slowly, pressing himself against the wall at the bottom. Mere feet in, he could already begin to feel the heat radiating from the planar gate in the hydra's nest. Alandil sighed softly. "It must have thought the gate to be a source of heat." Fear poured through Ascanor's veins, he could see the gate had done damage to the hydra's body, but only waking the creature would reveal what it could really do. Within darkvision, he could see the tangle of the creature's nest. Decades of trees, rocks, and scattered bones forming a tangled wall six feet high around the hulking hydra.

Ereven stamped down the stairs, nearing the nest. He stopped, able to see the sheer height the creature stood at when resting. He slid his axe back into his belt. "I'm going to need something a bit stronger for this." He reached up behind his head between the plates of armor where his gorget met the back of his breastplate. With a rasp of metal, he pulled out a white steel longsword, gleaming bright despite the dimness of the temple.

The light danced in Ascanor's golden globes. "How did he do that?"

"When stored, the blade is transported into a pocket dimension within the sheath, thus allowing it to be stored anywhere the hilt will fit. Ereven had that hole in his armor for the longest time before he finally found that blade within a dragon's hoard." Alandil noted.

"You guys fought a _dragon_?"

Sharyas giggled. "No, he was challenged at a bar to steal something from the dragon who lived in a cave in the nearby mountains."

"And I did it." Ereven held the sword proudly.

"By almost being roasted within your armor."

"Not everything has ended up that way!" Ereven realized the mistake in his volume as a large, rippling column rose from within the nest. Like a burning wick a fiery orange sparked to life up the hydra's neck rising up to two glowing orbs of fire cleaved by two midnight black slits. The hydra leaned down, examining the adventurers. Its mouth parted into a very sharp grin. "Ah, it took a while but my food has finally arrived. I knew it was only a matter of time when they first began to come in here. Oh how I'll _enjoy_ this meal."

Ascanor's eyes ran up the lithe body of the creature. The countless years of planar leakage had twisted the creature's form. Its scales had dyed to a deep red-orange, those that didn't shine with the fire of the Nine Hells. Its claws had elongated, twisting into ash black abominations. Horns sprouted along its body, and those in the right place had been shaped into into the horns of a demon. Its seven pairs of eyes burned with the fury of the demon plane, but within Ascanor could see deeper emotion. It almost looked like...fear? He couldn't help but feel pity for the hydra, as evil as it may be. The same pain and confusion of transformation his ancestors encountered centuries ago lived on in this beast.

"You can try beast!" Ereven raised the sword towards the hydra's lowered head. Ascanor's heart felt like it'd frozen within his chest. He wouldn't dare.

Alandil raised a hand. "Ereven, no!"

The warrior bellowed, driving his blade clean through the monster's neck until it sparked along the stone floor. The severed, dripping neck reared back, to Ereven's confusion.

Ascanor lunged in front of the dumbfounded warrior, grabbing him by his gorget. "My gods do you realize what you've done?"

Ereven brushed him aside. "Get off me, tiefling. I'm making our job easier. Now we only have to fight six."

Alandil sighed. "You really defy everything I know about you sometimes, Ereven. We went on researching, where were you?"

"I read it. I took it with me to the tavern."

"Uh _huh_. Well let me refresh your memory. When you cut off one head of a hydra-"

"Two more grow back." Ascanor whimpered. He felt his knees buckle beneath him as the hydra's neck began to split at its severed end. As the fork traveled towards the creature's body flesh knit around itself, the new necks growing to full size as small buds appeared at their ends. They continued to grow and grow, until splits for nostrils, a mouth, and eyes appeared. The creature's new eyes looked down at the quivering adventurers. The eight heads' mouths parted, a low growl slipping between rows of glittering teeth.

Sharyas whimpered, her tails visible and bristling from fear. Ascanor shared the emotion, his own tail curled against his body. If what Ereven did meant anything, they now knew the hydra had fully awakened. Ascanor felt numb, numb enough to not feel the sharp teeth begin to press against his torso.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N Oh boy here comes a big one. HYDRA FIGHT! Going to be very busy tomorrow so I'm posting early instead of forgetting it until 11PM like last week. Enjoy!**

Ascanor flailed as the hydra lifted him off his feet. The creature's sharp teeth pressed firm against his leather overcoat, but either chose not or were unable to pierce it. The beast held him firm as it rose to its full height twenty some feet off the ground. Ascanor squeaked, never noticing a crippling fear of heights before now. He hung limp, hoping the hydra wouldn't desire to increase its pressure on his body. But based on the glowering stare its head was giving the tiefling, it didn't look good.

Another head looked at him before turning to the other rangers. "You really know how to work up an appetite."

Alandil notched an arrow. "Allow us to increase that." He let the arrow fly into the left eye of the head holding the tiefling. The beast roared, Ascanor cringing at its rancid breath, but it did not let go, rather pressing down harder on him.

"Alandil that's really not the best thing to do right now." The tiefling screeched.

"My apologies. Do you have the means to escape?"

Ascanor bared his fangs in a smile. "Of course." His knife flashed from its sheath, diving for the hydra's gums. Ascanor drove the blade between the beast's teeth, wiggling it back at forth for good measure. The hydra writhed in a high pitched roar, dropped the tiefling violently onto the ground. Ascanor rolled, trying to rid himself of as much of the creature's blood as he could. He stood up, brushing at the sleeves of his coat. "This thing cost me twenty gold you know." He sighed. "Well the damage is already done." He took a coattail and used it to clean his knife before depositing it back in the sheath.

Ereven rolled his eyes. "You poor thing. Alandil, what's the plan."

"Unknown, I will need time to ponder this."

Sharyas somersaulted over a diving head. "We don't have time for this. We need a plan now."

"Well we could always cut every head off. Without a head it will die."

Ereven deflected a biting attack with his blade. "I can't take all of them at once. Not now, not before."

"It needs energy to regenerate its heads. Perhaps forcing it to regenerate can make it lose energy."

Ereven smiled. "Now that I can do." As another head moved for attack, the warrior sidestepped the blow, driving his sword down through the creature's skull. "Let's see you regenerate from that." The hydra howled, obviously capable of feeling pain given to different heads. Ascanor rubbed his chin, it'd given him an idea.

"Alandil, where is this thing's heart?"

"Each head is given its own heart, but they share other functions."

"Just what I wanted to hear." The tiefling gripped his knife in his teeth, drawing his sword. Sprinting forward, he dove onto his back as he slid under the hydra's legs. He held up his sword, easily slicing through the soft flesh of the creature's underside. As he passed out the other side, the hydra's tail dropped down, pinning the tiefling to the ground. He squirmed, but the log-like tail remained static under its weight. He took a few test stabs with his knife, but the scales of its tail had been hardened stronger than tempered iron. "A little help here?"

Sharyas stood to one side, one of the hydra's heads cradled in her arms, a dazed glaze over its eyes. She giggled, murmuring something inaudible to the hydra, who's mouth dropped. Ascanor felt muscles ripple in the tail above him. A massive gust of wind rushed through his horns as the hydra's tail lifted and swung away from him. As if the monster were wagging its tail like a hound, the tail came back in another gust. Ascanor managed a small yelp before the tail swept up his body and threw him through the side of the hydra's nest in a cloud of splinters.

He sat up, brushing his hand on some cold object as he moved to rub his head. He felt rather stupid in his negligence to let those with armor take the close quarters combat while he cast spells from the sideline. Remembering something laid on the floor next to him, he turned his gaze to it. His heart stalled. He'd found what he'd come looking for. Ascanor raised the relic, letting himself bask in the golden glow reflecting off the hydra's infernal scales. He fingered the cut gems embedded in the metal cylinder. Whatever purpose this device had, only his father knew. Ascanor placed the trinket within his pack, which had somehow remained on his back through the fight. He smiled with anticipation. He had what he came for, his father would be pleased. He slunk through the shadows towards the stairs. Ereven stood in a tangle of hydra, the beast having now at least twelve heads. Sharyas stood with another head, seducing it into a stun before Ereven and Alandil delivered a finishing blow. Ascanor shrugged, they wouldn't need him.

Alandil scanned the room. "Hmm, the tiefling has disappeared."

Ereven drove his blade through his sixth head. "Probably eaten. Maybe the hydra got rid of him for us."

Sharyas gasped, dropping her grasp on the hydra. "No."

"I'm joking. Not that it matters. He's gone isn't he? That little traitor scum."

Alandil sighed. "Drop it Ereven. It appears to be slowing in regeneration. We've almost had it. Keep it up."

The hydra took a step back, hissing like a bundle of snakes. "Not quite." The creature roared, its body rippling. More small horns began to protrude from its body, the ones along its heads beginning to glow along a spiral to their tips. A fiery aura began to shimmer around it. When it opened its eyes its pupils has disappeared into a molten flame. The creature opened its mouth, its teeth had curled into obsidian black daggers, while smoke poured out like a fog from a furnace within the creature's bowels.

Ereven took a step back. "This might be harder than I thought."

Ascanor stopped dead in his crawl through the rubble. He'd sensed the shift in the magical field, an energy that could only match one from his past. One he'd hoped never to use again. He turned around, sneaking over to the low wall. The rangers had cowered against the wall while the hydra burned with infernal wrath. Ascanor trained his ears towards the low voice of the hydra.

"-it's been with me since I began to rest within this chamber. You've disturbed my slumber and are too much to be a decent meal, so I'll enjoy myself in killing you instead. Congratulations should be in order, you've been the first to see my true power. Even though you never stood a chance, you're worthy of this small gift."

Alandil's eyes widened. "Remarkable. It possesses more intelligent than I previously thought."

Ereven growled. "That traitorous little demon scum. Leaving when he feels like it. I knew we should have never have trusted him."

Ascanor scowled, turning to leave. He heard all he needed to. He didn't have to take that from the drunk. He spat, he didn't have to help them. They wanted nothing to do with him. He looked over his shoulder, the scene nagging at his conscious. He shook his head. No, he owed nothing to then. He began to leave when he heard a feminine shriek that could only come from Sharyas. In an instant, Ascanor had made up his mind. He sprinted to the rail, vaulting over it to land on one of the hydra's heads. He rode the neck to the ground, rolling to stand in front of the adventurers.

The hydra growled. "You again."

"That's right."

"Why have you returned?"

"You are not worthy of that power."

The hydra took a testing snap at the tiefling, who leapt over the diving head to land on top. The hydra flipped him off, hissing. "Only I am to say what I cannot have."

"Then I'm just going to have to show you." Ascanor reached deep into the pits of his heart, pulling upon the lump of molten rock given to him by his heritage. He felt heat erupt through his body, out his horns and tail. An orange spiral snaked its way through them, shimmering with a fire quite similar to that in his golden eyes. He bared his teeth, having all elongated into tapered fangs. "You are nothing more than a fake, beast. You face true blood. For my life I have been trained in this art. You will perish."

"You are quite the bluff, tiefling. But truly it is you who is the fake. This power is mine, and always has been. It was gifted upon me by the gods to bring upon a new age. They made the perfect choice! What better being to bring the gods' will to the Realms but one who cannot die! And now that you have awakened me and brought my first meal, I can spread their message and glory to all of Faerun!"

Ascanor smiled at the display of the hydra's instability. He almost pitied the creature, and he would've, had it not done what damage it'd already done. "Then prove it."

Ascanor's fingers twirled, drawing upon the magical node burning within him to combine its energy with the ambient energy to create a swarm of magic missiles. Blue bolts of energy crackled between the mass, giving them the noise of a swarm of angry bees. Though not bees, they sure were angry. Ascanor whirled the cones in a circle around his body, driving back the hydra with sheer numbers. He met glowing orb upon orb. "You see now the true power of the infernal. You will not touch them, I shan't allow it."

"I shall do what I desire. You have no strength to argue with a god."

"For every god there is a demon." He sent forth his arcane army. The creature bellowed as cone after cone exploded along its flanks. For every missile he launched, two more popped into his hands. He found it a nice twist of irony, even if the hydra was taking too much to notice. He felt the pressure of the magical field drop around him as he drew upon more and more mana. Through all his spells the hydra refused to back down, magical void or not, neither could he. Ascanor spun fireballs into his hands, combining magic into spells never seen before. Flaming magic missiles, fireballs dripping with acid, and caustic arrows crackling with blue lightning.

Eventually, the magical essence refused to take anymore strain for the tiefling. Magical energy surged in to fill the void, blasting the wizard off his feet a foot into the wall beside the spectators. He groaned a whine before flopping to the ground, the infernal blaze in his horns beginning to flicker and die. His ears rang, his eyes scrunched up in pain, but he managed to pick out the flowery, woodsy scent of Sharyas rise above the metallic tang of blood and sweat. He felt as her soft fingers began to probe his ribs and spine. He grunted, nothing felt broken, yet the pain remained. He knew this would happen. He could never draw upon that power without overdoing it. How foolish. His father proved himself right again. Ascanor couldn't handle any jobs of his. He'd failed again. He sighed, letting the kitsune's scent waft him away from the pain.

Sharyas knelt besides the fallen tiefling as he drew a long, shuddering breath. She let out a small cry between the fingers clasped over her mouth. Alandil moved silently up to her. "It's alright. He isn't dead."

She gasped. "Really?"

"Yes, but by very little."

"You've got to help him!"

"I cannot. His wounds are inflicted in his magical essence. It is beyond the reach of any potions."

"Then...I'll do it. Ereven hold off the monster until I'm done."

The warrior grunted, charging forward into the gaping jaws of the beast. The hydra flicked its head, easily tossing the warrior to the ground, where a waiting head moved to dive onto the warrior and bring his end.

"No..." Ascanor's eyes flickered open. Sharyas gasped again, shifting back to her heels. The tiefling pulled himself up, standing in front of the fallen Ereven in the blink of an eye. He brought up his sword, holding back the piercing teeth of hydra head. His sword began to bend, the iron cared for over the years so as to not become brittle. The hydra's bellows stopped. Through the barrage chunks of flesh had been rent from its body, other places scorched, and just as many melting from acid. The monster looked at the tiefling with a head that'd lost an eye to a fireball. "How are you still _alive_?"

Ascanor tossed the sword aside. "That state cannot destroy me, but it will destroy you. While I stand, you will not touch these people. I may have only known them for mere days, and barely know them at that, but I know deep down that they mean something to me. And I _never_ get rid of something that means something to me. I've been so confused these past few days. How I can possibly enjoy being in the company of those who tied me up as a thief? I do. They've got every right to hate me, I know that, and if they cast me out so be it, but you will not be the one doing that for them."

"Ascanor..." Sharyas whispered.

"You." Ereven got up beside the tiefling. "Why did you come back?"

"Something has been bothering me. For the past few days you've talked so much about taking my head. And let's face the truth, you've had plenty of opportunities to do it. So why haven't you? There lies my answer."

Ereven's brow scrunched up as the warrior searched for a reasonable answer. He couldn't find one. He met Ascanor's gaze, and gave a firm nod. "You have my blade, Ascanor." The tiefling smiled widely at the first use of his name the warrior had given.

Alandil stood beside the tiefling. "We _do_ have right to hate you. You're arrogant, and stupid, and you think you can do this yourself. But somehow, you've pulled through when we've needed help the most. But every person deserves a chance. Do you stand by what you say?"

"Every word."

"Then stand with us, and you will never have to carry yourself again."

The tiefling smiled. "You mean it?"

"Of course."

"Very well." The elf silently drew an arrow. "Shall we make this quick?"

"Yes." Ascanor cracked his neck. Sharyas silently nodded, forming fox-fire.

"Do you have a plan?"

"I do. Earlier, I scored its stomach. I get an acid arrow in there, we can tear it up from within."

"Very well. Everyone draw its attention. Ascanor, it's all yours."

The tiefling grinned. "My pleasure."

Striking as one the adventurers drove their way into the hydra's plentiful wounds. The creature howled in pain, its eyes wrenching shut. Ascanor limped up to the beast slowly, summoning a small bolt shining with lime-green light. He flicked away the acidic stick, sending it upon a magical wind underneath the hydra's flank and into its mass of organs. Something began to hiss and crackle, acrid smoke pouring out both underneath the hydra and from each of its mouths. The hydra curled upon the ground, whimpering soft as death overtook it. With a roar, an immense orange light erupted from every orifice of the monster as its infernal curse was driven from its body. Ascanor watched as the energy pulled itself through minute rifts in the magical field, returning to the plane it came from, and belonged. As the light faded, Ascanor could see its horns had returned to a normal shape, and its scales and eyes glowed no more. It opened an eye, taking one last look at the tiefling. It managed a small nod before haze clouded its eyes and the hydra collapsed within a pool of its own blood.

Ascanor sighed, falling back gratefully onto the hydra's nest. His body had become too numb to notice the rough, pointy sticks digging their way into his back. His eyes began to droop, and he only noticed Ereven once the warrior stood at his side. He felt his body rise into the air as darkness enveloped him.

Alandil watched over the dancing flames at the tiefling who remained still in the blankets he'd been wrapped in. Despite the blaze the elf's breath still clouded in the moonless night, and a chill would prove fatal for one so weak as Ascanor. Sharyas, who'd been sharing his gaze, turned to him. "Do we still need to heal him?"

"I think he will pull out in time. He seems surprisingly capable of healing damage such as that within himself. When he was blasted back he should have been unconscious, if not dead. Truly a remarkable case. I've certainly never see anything like him before. Tieflings have always been solitary creatures."

"And rules..." the tiefling's head had rolled to the side to look at Alandil, "were made to be broken."

Sharyas laughed, clasping the tiefling in a big hug. He groaned at her first grasp, but smiled and accepted the kitsune's affection.

Alandil came to kneel beside the wounded wizard, resting a hand upon the tiefling's crimson forehead. The elf nodded. "Your fever seems to have broken."

Ascanor smiled again. "Everything else feels the same way. Should have known better than to use up all the energy in the area. Comes back to bite you if you do."

"Yes, that's been puzzling me since you first began. How _do_ you know so much about how magic works?"

"Well, I can see things. There's this...it's almost like a plane of existence. Only it overlaps our own, meshing together into the real world. It's the energy used to create magical spells, and I'm able to see it, always could. I guess it sent my father into a frenzy over magic. He devoted his life to training me and together we've made a living of working with magic."

"So you're pretty good with magic?" Sharyas' voice had been piqued with sudden interest.

Ascanor nodded.

"Could...you teach me?"

Ascanor's neck grew weary, and his head fell back against his coat. "I'd be happy to. You want to start in the morning?"

"Sounds good."

"About your work with your father, is that why you have this?" Alandil's face turned dark as he held out the golden relic from the temple.

Worry lines scored the tiefling's brow. He nodded, fear clenching his throat shut.

"Is this why you left?"

Again, Ascanor nodded.

"Why?"

"You don't understand." The fear had finally let go of his throat, instead pouring into his voice. "If I failed my father again..." He trailed off, a stray hand reaching down into the covers to his back.

It was the elf's turn to show worry. "So he's been using you."

"What? No!" The tiefling made haste to deny. "He trained me so I could _assist_ him." His voice squeaked at the emphasis.

Alandil nodded, having his suspicions. "We picked this up before we left." He dropped Ascanor's bent short sword at his feet.

Ascanor smiled. "Hey, thanks." He lifted up the blanket, sliding it into its sheath. It sat at an awkward angle, but Ascanor manged to wiggle it in. He yawned, and scanned the camp, noticing a lack of loudmouthed, armored humans. "Where's Ereven?"

"Oh, out hunting somewhere. He's due back by now."

Ascanor nodded, his head drifting back onto his rolled up overcoat the elf set out for a pillow. "Man, I'm starving."

"Rest, you can eat in the morning."

Ascanor's head bobbed drowsily in another nod before he fell back asleep.


	7. Chapter 7

Ereven sat on a tree he felled, watching his own fire as a leg of venison crackled and dropping hissing drops of grease into the eagerly licking flames below. His words kept echoing withing his ears. You have my blade, Ascanor. How could he have been so foolish? Was he really so desperate that he accepted help from a _tiefling_? He could have taken that hydra easily. Why did that little pest have to keep messing with his plans?

He closed his eyes, the fire stirring up echoes of flames of the past. The screaming voices, they pleaded to him for help, for vengeance. He watched as they burst through his door, their spears and swords glinting in the torchlight as they swept the house. He smelled the salty tang of sweat and fear, and _blood_. He slunk further into the fallen straw of his bed as his mother shrieked for him, a loud squawk before silence. He wrenched his eyes shut, daring only shallow breaths lest they find him, but before he did he managed a peek at those who'd intruded, and they had horns.

He inhaled sharply, back in front of his slowly charring meal. He shook his head, pulling the leg off its spit. He took a bite, letting the savory juice run down his chin into the scruff that'd begun to grow. What did I agree to? He kicked dirt over the glimmering coals, picked up the remaining carcass, and began to take dinner to the waiting members of the Raven's Fist. What did I agree to?

By the time the first rays of sunlight stuck his eyelids, Ascanor had ascended into a light sleep from a deeper one. He slept light enough the early morning noises permeated his dreams, but slept hard enough he was still able to dream at all. At one point voices slipped their way into the swirling mist of his subconscious, and though he heard them, he paid no attention until a light hand brushed against his arm. His eyes opened, gaze meeting with the worried face of Sharyas, who blossomed into a wide grin when he woke. "I didn't know if you'd make it through the night."

Ascanor sat up and stretched. "Still here." He sniffed the air, smiling giddily at the rich smells of meat. "Something smells good." He doubled over as the smells brought upon the sharp hunger pains of the night before. "Wouldn't be ready by any chance, would it?"

Alandil chuckled. "Actually it's been ready for several hours. Ereven got back a while ago with quite the specimen of deer. His venison rivals that of a master guildsman."

Ereven took a swig from a mug. "Ah it's nothing special, really."

Sharyas tossed the tiefling a small slab on a plate, which he wolfed down, much to her amusement. The meat had a stringy toughness and sharp twang in the flavor common in wild game. It wasn't his tongue's favorite taste, and it settled in his stomach like a lump of metal, but it couldn't have been a better meal. He reached into his backpack, pulling out the rest of the hardtack bread he'd brought into the forest. He reached into the bread and pulled out the gooey flesh, replacing it with the rest of his meat. Sharyas watched with animal-like curiosity. He held out the bread. "It's an old military technique I read of in a book." He let her take a bite.

She nodded. "It'sh very good."

A flask soared over the fire to land at Ascanor's feet. He looked at Ereven. "What's this?"

The warrior had fixed Ascanor with an icy stare. "You want to be a part of our group? Drink it."

"Ereven." Alandil warned.

"Relax, I didn't _poison_ it."

"No it's fine." Ascanor picked up the cool metal. "I'll do it." He unscrewed the cap, sniffing the contents. His nose retreated. The contents smelled something they gave him when he had the coughs. He rose the flask to his lips and took a small swig. He expected brandy, and couldn't tell the contents as he rolled them on his tongue. It had a sharp taste, like a mulled wine his father once served at a party. He shrugged, swallowing it. As the liquor touched the beginning of his throat, Ascanor almost gagged up the contents. The booze felt as if it'd been on ice for hours as it slid painfully slow down his throat, chilling as it went. Ascanor doubled over, his body racking in coughs as Ereven roared in laughter from across the camp.

Ascanor cleared his throat. "What was _that_?"

"I see you can't handle your frostwine, tiefling."

Ascanor stared at the flask in horror. "That's what you constantly drink? How can you do that?"

"It takes time. Go ahead, take another drink."

Ascanor took another swig. Though it still drove his spine into gooseflesh, he managed to down it without coughing. He nodded, tossing the flask back to Ereven, who finished the flask in three gulps. "Ahh, see what I mean?"

"So does this mean we're good."

He laughed again. "I was just messing with you."

Ascanor shook his head. "Maybe you ought to come home with me. We've got quite the wine cellar. An entire wall of our dining room is a liquor cabinet."

Ereven rubbed his hands together, which in gauntlets came out as a metallic rasp. "I wish I had wealth."

Sharyas slipped up next to Ascanor. "Do you think we could start with those magic lessons?"

"Well, what would you like to know?"

"Well I've tried a lot, but the only spell I've managed to even make work is this." She waved her hand over a small patch of earth, causing it to ripple. "And you've seen how good I am with _that_." She hinted to both the yuan-ti and aboleth incidents.

Ascanor's hand had moved to caress his chin in thought. He stared absently between Sharyas and the ground. "Hmm, could you try making fire?"

She frowned, but spun together a ball of fox-fire.

"I see the problem now. You see, magic is made of two parts, energy from the world and energy from the user. When you manipulate the earth, you're taking the energy from the world, but not infusing it with your own. However, you do the opposite with your fire. Try working the earth again, this time, open yourself up."

She sighed, closing her eyes. The earth began to ripple and a small shape began to form. A tiny, earthen fox leapt out of the ground, snaking its way up Ascanor's boot to scrutinize him with beady pebble eyes before crumbling back into the ground. Sharyas released her breath, reopening her eyes. "I did it!"

Ascanor patted her shoulder. "Nicely done."

Ereven got up and stretched. "It's time we got moving. We've got to get back to our buyer before he retracts his cash."

"How _exactly_ are you getting paid for this?"

"We have to bring proof."

Ascanor was reluctant to ask a next question. "How?"

"Well..." Ereven held out a small, orange object.

"My gods." The warrior had an infernal corrupted egg of the hydra. "What if that thing hatches on us?"

"Relax. I put it at the edge of the camp last night. It should be long cold and dead by now. Besides, it'd be so tiny I could take off all its heads at once."

Ascanor cringed. "Okay...I guess that's a good enough reason." He shuddered. "I've got to go take care of some business. You guys can set off, I'll catch up."

Once Ascanor had finished taking care of nature's call, he turned around to hurry back to camp. His heart nearly stopped as Sharyas jumped from the brush. "Sharyas." He gasped. "You weren't here the whole time were you?"

"Believe me, you'd have to go much, _much_ farther than this if you don't want me hearing."

"That sounds...traumatizing."

She nodded.

"What uh...what do you need?"

Her eyes darted around as if she expected someone eavesdropping. "I've been thinking...about what you said back in the temple."

He knew when. "What do you think?"

She sat down against a tree and gestured next to herself. Ascanor squat down next to her. "Well, if this is going to work, then I can't hold secrets from you."

Sharyas frolicked through the courtyard her father had planted over a century ago. What had begun as seeds had since blossomed into a living bouquet of flowers and rich fruit that bloomed even in the heat of the summer. She crouched in a small bush, her nose twitching with every change in scent. Her tail bristled as something streaked past her to a flower. She watched as a swallowtail butterfly drifted lazily from flower to flower, flexing its wings slowly as it sat in the bell-shaped tulips. Sharyas watched the creature, more so, the small pinprick of light of the insect's soul. She raised pressure onto her haunches, ready to pounce.

The door to the courtyard slid open. "Sharyas?" Her mother called out. "Are you out here?"

Sharyas poked her head out over the broad leaves. "Yes, mother?"

"Your father would like to see you on the balcony."

"Yes, ma'am." Sharyas leapt out of the bushes and brushed off her gown, staring back jealously at the butterfly's slow, almost taunting beats of its wings. Sharyas followed her mother through the paper sliding door. The courtyard stood off to the side of the castle, so as to not obstruct the massive spiral staircase that created the main artery for traffic. She began the climb up to the fifth floor, her parent's chambers. She opened the door and slipped in quietly.

Her parents spared no expense with furnishing their private apartment. A long, plush bed dominated most of the wall to her left, while a small sitting room, bathroom, and small area where food and the finest wine in the castle were kept, with access to the servants' staircase that led directly to the kitchen, on her right. Directly ahead, the door to the balcony stood aside, her father in view leaning casually against the rail with his back to her. Their stronghold boasted the greatest view of the Spine of the World among any of their kind.

She walked up to the threshold before kneeling. "Father."

He shifted, but didn't turn around. "Ah, come here, my daughter." She joined him at the rail. "Do you know what this day is?"

"It is the day of my birth, Father."

"Your one-hundredth day of birth." A smile creased his weathered face. "My daughter is growing up." She giggled as he took her in his arms. He pointed out to the horizon, where the beginnings of green held on desperately as if the world ended beyond them. "Out there my daughter will come into her second age of power. Are you ready?"

"You have trained me well, Father."

He set her down and clapped her softly on the back. "Then we shall hunt at midnight. The moon is full, it is a good omen. A good day for my daughter. That is all, you may run along now."

She knelt again before setting back off for the staircase. Though midnight was still half a day away, her heart had already begun to race.

When the gates slid open beneath the soft white glow of the full moon, ten foxes slipped out into the night. They ran across a narrow track between lines of boulders that towered above their head. The track ran around the curves of the mountains, slowly declining down to their bases as it turned into a slick, gravel path. Before the end of the hour, trees had stretched above their heads. Sharyas smelled the air, adrenaline running through her at the vast array of animals to be taken.

"Stay focused." Her father said, as if he could read her mind. He was right, this was not their destination yet.

They began up a steep slope, Sharyas' paws skipping through the leaves before they could give way beneath her. As they crested the hill, the warm glow of lanterns winking at a distance in the bottom of a bowl-shaped valley beneath them. They moved down into the valley and disappeared between the whitewashed walls. Silently, they gathered in an alley behind a rowdy inn. Sharyas' nose wrinkled at the refuse scattering the cobbles, and the acrid mix of alcohol and sweat that followed every drunkard infested bar. They shifted into human form.

Her father pointed to the back door. "We'll go in first. You wait for the signal."

She nodded, dropping herself onto the short step below the door. As quietly as they arrived, the kitsunes entered the inn. Sharyas swung her legs back and forth. This was so exciting! There were so many smells she'd never smelled before. Humans were so fascinating. Her head snapped to the side as a muffled yelp drifted through the glowering panes of the windows followed by a quickly silenced shout. She winced as sounds of combat ensued, but they were quick to end. Moments after, her father opened the door and nodded her in.

She followed closely on the heels of her father as they passed through the back of the common room. Two of her father's men descended the stairs that led to the rooms, laughing almost drunkenly between each other. The rest of his men sat around the common room, hands on their stomachs and a dazed smile as if they'd just eaten. Sharyas peeked past her father. The common room's floor had been covered with bodies, but not a spatter of blood had been shed. Some men had remained slumped over in their seats as if they'd had too much booze. But Sharyas knew the truth, the lights of their soul had gone dark forever.

Her father stopped her. "This one is yours." He gestured to a small boy one of their men hauled over by his arm. The kitsune dropped the boy on the ground. He'd been crying, but the tears had dried up. The boy's eyes rolled wildly around the room. "Mommy? Where...where's my mommy?"

Sharyas look up questioningly. "Father? I don't understand."

"You're going to take the soul of this human."

"What?"

"Don't you want your power? Take his soul."

Tears welled up at the repeated cries of the boy."But Father I-"

 _"Do it!_ " She winced at this sudden outburst of her normally tranquil father. She choked down saliva and nodded. Her eyes moved down and met the panicked boy's. She stared past his chest, into his heart where the flicking light of his soul rested. She stifled a sob, but one still managed its way through. She closed her eyes and opened herself up, drawing the small light into herself. When she opened her eyes, the boy had stopped squirming and his eyes had gone gray. She felt the soul of the boy bounce around inside her, but she kept herself shut. It had already begun.

She felt the fur on her tail bristle as the tip began to split. She cried as power surged into her and her second tail. Though he had passed, she could still hear the cries of "Mommy?" the boy gave off, as if a part of him lived on inside her. Finally, her tails finished splitting, and another burnished brush waved behind her. As quick as she could she opened up her soul, and the remainder of the boy shot from her like a bolt of lightning, violently striking the boy in the chest. He double over as he took a harsh, ragged breath. Sharyas sighed in relief as the boy got to his feet and shot out the door of the tavern, however short it lasted.

Her father knelt in front of her, his eyes ablaze. "What have you done?"

She puffed out her chest. "He didn't have to die for me." She grabbed her tails. "I have what I came for Father."

She cried out as he struck her across the face. "Don't you realize what you've done? You've destroyed _everything_ I've built over the past centuries! You fool, that boy has gone for help!"

"Then he deserves it!" She stepped back, but the words had already slipped out.

"Is that what you truly think?"

She grit her teeth. "Yes."

"Then I have no daughter."

"What? Father you can't mean that!"

"I have no daughter."

"I can go get him! I'll take his soul, all of it! I promise. Father, please!"

He gestured to his men. "Get rid of her."

The kitsune took Sharyas' body and tossed her carelessly into the forest. Dogs bayed behind them, startling them into fox form. Like they'd never been, they disappeared into the forest to meet up with the rest of the group. Sharyas pulled up onto her elbows, her hair hanging over her battered, bloodied face. Blood and tears alike dropped to mingle in the dirt beneath her.

"Father!" she wailed. "Please, come back. I'm sorry!" She shifted form and crawled off into the night before the howling beasts could tear her to shreds. She limped, her front left paw had bent at an awkward angle when her father's men pulled her through the door frame of the inn, as she slowly scaled a tree to rest for the night. She curled up, tucking her snout in, muttering "I'm sorry" over and over until the pain pulled sleep over her.

Sharyas cried into Ascanor's arm. "I haven't tasted a human soul in almost a century. But I can feel it, stronger so with every day. I've tried almost every animal this side of the Spine but nothing ever works. My father had right to try and kill me." She grasped her tails, clenching them until her knuckles turned white. "If only cutting these things off would take it all away. I'd do it in a heartbeat. Gods, how could I be so foolish? What happens when the temptation becomes too much? What if _you're_ in the way when it does?"

Ascanor cradled her, resting his head on top of hers. "Then I'll die the happiest man in Faerun."

She sniffed. "How could you possibly do that?"

"I'll be with the woman I love."

She met his eyes. "Ascanor..." Her eyes closed, her head diving for his.

Before Ascanor could say another word, he had discovered his first taste of a woman's lips. He grasped her and pulled her close, reveling in the ecstasy hidden within her kiss.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N I guess I should explain the unexpected hiatus in this story's publishing. And honestly, it's going to sound like a massive excuse, but frankly it doesn't matter. So at the beginning of July, I received the syllabus for my first college class. Taking into account the incredible weight of the books it required, it also required some work to be done in three books before school started the 17th. Naturally, academics should come first, kids. And so, I got that done over the course of a couple weeks (thank procrastination, not me) and writing slipped from my mind until a few weeks ago. Again, thank procrastination, for me just now getting around to publishing another chapter. Now onto the good news! I'm currently about halfway through writing the last chapter, and it will be coming soon. Don't worry your pretty little heads it's not like I'm pushing it out by next year or anything just give me a month or two to wrap things up and over that time expect Chapter 9. Enjoy!**

Ascanor and Sharyas hurried back to the camp to gather their stuff and catch up to the other rangers. However to his surprise, the two hadn't seemed to have moved since he left. Ereven had fallen to his side off his log, snoring like a thunderstorm. Alandil's eyes were turned to a small, worn red book in his hands. He looked up as the two quietly slipped in, a faint smile curling the edges of his lips as if he knew something they hadn't revealed quite yet. Ascanor kept his eyes low and sat down next to his knapsack. He began to root through the contents, slipping more vials of potion into the bandoleer across his chest. He reached down into the bottom, pulling up his remaining rations of food. He'd planned to use them on the trip back, so he felt confident he'd be able to make it back home.

Alandil broke the silence with a intrigued sigh. "Fascinating. It says here a hydra egg incubates for six years before it hatches."

Ascanor frowned. "That's a long time to guard an egg."

"Indeed. It says here the infant won't reach mature size for another ten."

"No wonder the hydra was so desperate back there."

"Yes I'd say the infant was close to hatching."

Ascanor nodded slowly. "Was. Didn't we let the egg cool?"

Alandil sighed. Ascanor jumped as Ereven's backpack shook. The elf looked at him. "What does that tell you?"

Ascanor gave a sharp kick to Ereven's breastplate, which resounded like a gong. The warrior jerked and gave a snort. "Wha's goin' on?" He yawned.

"Where did you leave the egg?"

"The egg? Oh I put it in my backpack?"

Ascanor really didn't need anymore, but he decided to press further. "And where did you put your pack?"

"Near the fire. Where are you going with this?"

"And what do you think an egg, plus heat, equals?" An aggravated squawk coming from Ereven's bag answered his question. Ascanor sighed. "Alandil?"

"It's a...boy?" The elf replied.

Ascanor turned around. Ereven's backpack had fallen over onto its side, spilling a small, scaly bundle out onto the ground. The hydra squirmed, its necks entangled like a nest of serpents. Ascanor knelt down and peered closer. Orange stripes flickered up the hydra's five necks, coming up to meet twisted, infernal horns. The tiefling shook his head sadly. This creature wasn't spared the twisted, corrupted appearance of its mother. He only hoped the creature's minds didn't suffer the same, lest they have another problem waiting for them in the future.

The hydra managed up onto its feet, squinting in its first taste of bright sun. Sharyas, having left some unknown time before, appeared out of the forest with a piece of meat in her hand. She stopped abruptly, her lunch falling into the gritty dirt. "What in the gods is that?"

Ascanor smiled awkwardly. "It's...Ereven's...pet?"

"What?" The warrior roared. "No way, I am _not_ taking care of that!"

"It's your fault it hatched in the first place!"

"I...well...okay, fine. I'll take care of it. But as soon as we get to the client it'll be their problem."

Ascanor grimaced. "Fine parenting there."

"Hey, maybe they'll have a private zoo. Or maybe we can get extra gold for it!"

"Fantastic." Ascanor cast a sarcastic glance over to Sharyas.

The hydra cried out, its mouths open like a baby birds. Ereven, with some prodding from Ascanor, picked up a couple of venison bones from the ashen scraps of the fire. He brushed them off, some gristle and meat still stuck to the bones. He got up to give the hydra the scraps, but found the infant to be greedily tearing into Sharyas' fallen lunch, much to the kitsune's dismay. The hydra quickly finished off the morsel, giving its gratitude in a roaring burp. Ereven sidled up to the creature, slowly and gently picking it up it his arms. The hydra's heads darted around briefly before accepting Ereven's grasp. Its heads moved up to his cheek, nestling against him, its gentle humming not unlike a cat's, reverberating through the warrior's armor. Before long, the beast had fallen asleep in his arms. Ereven placed the creature back into his backpack, curling up his blanket into a warm nest for it. When he sat back down, Ascanor was giving him a grin on the verge of laughing.

The warrior shrugged his shoulders. "What?"

"What are you going to name him?"

He rolled his eyes. "Shut up."

Alandil clapped his book shut. "Can we handle this once we get back to civilization?"

Ereven got to his feet and quickly slung his pack on. "About time."

The hamlet of Gullfeather was a small town, large enough to only appear on the maps of caravans, whom it made its primary wealth off of. Other than its sporting name and bizarre lack of its namesake, the town had little uniqueness to draw in others than its residents. Nevertheless, it was the destination of the Raven's Fist. Hours passed and Ascanor thought the trees would never end before the light began to brighten. They breached at a small hill overlooking the valley Gullfeather nestled itself in. The tiefling scanned the weary roofs of the village and sighed. "You can't tell me your buyer lives here."

Alandil shook his head. "They don't. But this is where we met their courier and this is where we have to meet them again. Let's get down to the inn, I'll have to send out a letter telling our success."

They shuffled down the hill and onto a cobbled path leading into the labyrinth of buildings. Ascanor frowned. "Nobody seems to be home."

"They're not really for outsiders."

Ascanor exhaled sharply. "Doesn't that figure."

They stopped in front of a stooped, white-washed building. A sign hung from a horizontal bar, its crusty chains grating softly in the mid-morning breeze. The Hogshead Tavern and Inn the sign read. At least, that's what the tiefling thought the flaky, faded paint said. His nose crinkled as Alandil opened the door. He realized the accuracy of the tavern's name because based on the smell, they had a few of their namesake in the back. The party passed between the clusters of tables that sat on either side of the door. Despite the time of day, a surprising amount of men sat hunched over steins at various places. Ascanor sneaked a peek as he passed. What hadn't been chipped, gouged, stained, burned, or damaged in some other unknown way on the tables had been taken up by a barfly. He cringed to himself, muttering silent words of pity.

The barkeep rested himself against the decrepit bar with one arm, peering at the adventurers with an unwelcome gaze, while his other eye stared blankly at the wall behind them. Ascanor jumped a little when he saw the thin pink line that drew a lightning bolt down the man's forehead and over his right eye to end at his cheek. The man wore a glass eye.

The bartender scratched at his unshaven stubble. "So, ye managed to come back, did ye?" His eye turned to the tiefling. "And ye brought me another mouth to feed? Fantastic."

"I'm afraid we don't have time to eat." Alandil held up a hand. "We need to get out a message as quick as we can. Where is the messenger?"

"Ye just missed 'im. He's headin' north to Greenest."

"That's a full day round trip!"

"Aye, and ye'd be doing best if ye just waited like the rest of us."

Alandil sighed and hung his head. "I guess we'll need rooms then."

"It's six silver a night." He pointed a gnarled finger at Ascanor. "Is it paying itself or do ye want me to set it up in the stable."

Sharyas squawked in rage but Ascanor held her back. "No sir, it's quite alright. Six silver you say?"

"Aye, for my _regulars_. Travelers expect to pay two gold."

"Now Beran," Acid had begun to creep into the elf's voice, "you wouldn't want a scene on your hands, would you?"

"Nay, I got meself enough problems with me customers."

"Then it'll be six silvers for all of us."

Beran glared at the elf for a few seconds, before unwillingly holding out his palm. "Six silvers, tiefling."

Ascanor reached into his coat and dropped a small coinpurse onto the bar loudly. It turned the eyes of more than just the barkeep. Six coins flashed from his crimson hand into the sandpaper, grimy one of the barkeep. The man grunted and made the coins disappear. "Ye get rooms three through eight."

They climbed the stairs, each one creaking like they threated to break at each footfall. At the top of the stairwell rough oaken doors lined a narrow, dim hall lit only by a lantern flickering on a three legged nightstand. Lightly scratched in the center of each door at eye level were numbers. Ascanor ran a claw along the grains, barely making out the numbers of their rooms. He opened the door to Six.

He expected the interior to be as bad as the exterior, but deep down he silently prayed the opposite. The left wall sported a floor to ceiling tree of cracks whose branches bloomed in leaves of an unknown fungus. At least the bed looked decent, a bit hard, and creaky, but decent. Ascanor sighed, dropping onto the bed, which protested loudly. A sudden weariness took over him, and sleep overcame him as he stared at the uppermost canopy of his wall foliage.

He dreamed again of the circular room, but this time, a small pinprick of light dashed into the black isolation down near his feet. He bent down, watching the light grow sideways, until it shone as a bar as wide as his feet. The bar began to move its way upward, growing to Ascanor's height before tapering off as a rounded arch. He smiled. He'd been given a door out. I've succeeded, Father. I am coming home.

His eyes flickered open as his door echoed a sharp rapping. He stretched, the nearly barren bed frame left a sharp crick in his neck, as well as an aggravating headache. Sharyas stood at his door, a weary look in her eyes. "Ereven's new pet started up right as I tried to get to sleep and now it won't quit."

He laughed softly. "Like to go get some air? Let's take the servant's stairs, I don't like the way the barkeep looks at us."

Evening had set in while he napped, the sun nestling down in the horizon for a nap of its own, painting the sky a deep orange in its wake. People had begun to move around the streets, and the two easily melded into the crowd. Sharyas moved closer to the tiefling, pressing herself against his arm. He held her closer. "Relax, nobody knows who you are."

"You don't know that." She whimpered.

"Sharyas, come on. We're out of danger for the time being, try to enjoy it."

She sighed, but her grip on his arm slackened a little. They turned a corner into a form of marketplace. Here, the majority of the town had to have gathered. To his right, seven chickens roasted on a massive spit over an even larger fire. Sharyas eyed the meals with a vulpine hunger. Ascanor approached the heavily muscle-bound man turning the cookery. "How much?"

The man eyed the tiefling for a second. Ascanor saw suspicion flash in the man's eyes, but it quickly disappeared. "Six copper."

Ascanor nodded. "Two please."

With greasy birds in hand, they moved their way out of the marketplace to sit at a grassy knoll just outside of town. Ascanor bit into the tender meat of the chicken, eagerly slurping up the peppery juices simmered in.

Sharyas licked some grease off her fingers. "You know, Ascanor, I've been meaning to ask you. How can you flash around your money so easily like that? Somebody's bound to come along and burgle you."

He handed her the coinpurse. "Go ahead and open it. Just don't breathe too deeply when you do."

She frowned, but took the small bag. She parted the strings and pulled it open, inviting a small puff of acrid green gas out into the open. She held out like a dead animal, before repeating the action to the same effect. "You hexed it?"

He pocketed the bag. "It, and all the rest of my stuff, are imprinted to only be used by me. Lest you feel like dealing with nasty consequences."

"That's clever. Can't it backfire?"

He shrugged. "It hasn't happened yet. I've just trained myself not to breathe too sharply when its open. It's only real lethal if you leave it open long enough. Or if you're foolish enough to stick your face down to it, I guess."

He stopped as a small group of children rushed out of the town and approached them. Sharyas backpedaled up the hill a few steps, but Ascanor grasped her arm. They came up to the kitsune and grinned wildly. "Hey lady you wanna play with us?"

Sharyas cocked her head. "Me? Why?"

"Nobody here likes to come with us. But you're not from here, that means you can play with us, right?"

Sharyas looked to Ascanor questioningly, who shrugged back. She looked at the kids. "Well if I go, my friend here will have to go too."

The kids turned a wary eye to the tiefling. The little girl pouted slightly. "He can come too."

They led them around the town, showing them random landmarks only a child's eye could really bring to life. They visited the various locations in the dank alleys where the kids found animals, every nook and cranny they erected castles in, and the trinkets they'd collected over the years that served as their treasure. At one point, a little girl brought a squirming puppy over to show off. Before the dog had even laid its eyes on the strangers, a deep rumble leapt from its throat as it began to bark savagely. Sharyas yelped and jumped backwards, her tails visible and bristled.

The kids gasped, the puppy dropping from the girl's arms to dash off into the darkness. Every eye was turned on the cowering Sharyas. Ascanor's hands defied his common sense as they strayed to the blades at his side.

"Y-you're not a human." One of the little boys stepped forward. "What...what are you? Are you a monster?" They looked ready to bolt, but Ascanor dove in quicker.

"Now, don't be so hasty, kids."

"Ascanor, I can handle this." She sat down next to the kids. "I'm a kitsune."

The boy frowned. "What's that mean?"

"Well, it means I can do this." She dropped to the ground as a fox and beamed at the aghast children. "I'm afraid foxes and dogs don't get along too well. I apologize if I caused any panic."

The kids looked at each other, waging a nonverbal war on what to do next. A boy was pushed forward by his peers. He smiled feebly. "That's a pretty trick."

Sharyas pawed forward and pressed her head into the boy's hand. "It's no trick."

The spell had finally broken on the kids and they rushed forward to stroke her silky fur. "How do you have two tails?" One of the little girls asked.

"Every hundred years we gain another tail. I am one hundred and ninety eight." Another chorus of amazed sighs. Ascanor leaned against the wall of a building, watching the childish curiosity over an unfamiliar race with a curiosity of his own. At one point, a feminine shadow draped across the alleyway. The woman scoffed. "There you kids are! Your parents have worried themselves sick! Do you know what time it is? Get home, _now_. Joffen, Lilly, you too."

Joffen and Lilly groaned. "Fine, Mum."

Ascanor watched with a chuckle as the kids trudged their way home. He hadn't noticed the swollen orb of the moon casting its chiffon light over the drowsy townsfolk. Ascanor met Sharyas' eyes and together they quickly hurried back to the inn.

Once he'd gotten from his bed the next day Ascanor checked the neighboring rooms but found them empty. He rubbed his stiff neck, barely remembering the night before. Through the haze he could remember a kiss with Sharyas before he dove for his bed. His head collided with the pillow and everything had gone black after that. His fingers probed a tight knot in his neck. Another visit to this inn would be way too soon. When he stepped down to the lower floor he found Ereven mingling with the bar regulars while the rest huddled alone on the other side of the room at a table of their own. Ascanor shuffled awkwardly past the other customers and took a protesting seat with his friends.

Alandil's eyes were locked unwaveringly on an envelope sized manila packet on the table in front of him. Ascanor raised an eyebrow questioningly at Sharyas. She shrugged.

"This waited for me when I awoke this morning. Beran told me it'd arrived last night however _someone_ neglected to inform me until this morning." He glared at the barkeep, who threw up his hands.

"Don't be blamin' me ye bleedin' elf. Tis none of my business what ye do. Ye got the thing, now shut yer trap."

"Something tells me that's not the only thing bothering you today." Ascanor noted.

"Yes, well, the contents are rather...disturbing, to say the least."

Ascanor shook the packet. "What, somebody cut off someone's finger or something?"

"You might as just read it, my friend."

Ascanor shrugged and lifted the torn flap, shaking out a thick parchment that revealed to be a finely penciled map. A red line had been drawn from a halo around Gullfeather to an unmarked location slightly northeast. Ascanor frowned, something began to simmer in the back of his mind. Along with the map, a more ordinary piece of parchment held a letter scrawled in eloquent, flowing ink.

Dearest Raven's Fist

I offer my congratulations upon the completion of the task bestowed upon you by me. However, proof shall be required before payment. You shall deliver said goods to Demonsfell Manor before the peak of the full moon or our contract shall be nullified. The aforementioned location can be located by the map enclosed within this correspondence. I shall be waiting, but I shan't forever.

The paper slipped between Ascanor's fingers, cutting an arc in the air before it came to rest on the table. Deep down he'd known this setup was too much to be coincidence. But Sharyas, dear Sharyas, and the others, their friendship, pushed it to the back of his mind. Another party at the location, an unexpected, uninformed, obstacle they'd get paid to take down. Pain flooded into his heart. What gain could his father possibly receive from this.

"Ascanor? Hey, Ascanor?" Alandil snapped his fingers in front of the tiefling's face. "Everything alright? Do you know of this location?"

He managed a nod.

"Well? Where are we going?"

"Home."


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N So here's the second to last chapter of Fool's Gold. You excited? I'm in Tennessee again, how history** _ **does**_ **repeat itself, and I felt it right to post a chapter. I'm doing my best to finish up Chapter Ten, but when you're taking notes on thirty some page chapters of US History every weekend and then add on some Calculus things get tight. Bear with me I** **will not** **abandon this story.**

The caravan set out at noon sharp. The courier had some follow up business in Greenest before setting off for the Sword Coat. He happily obliged to travel off route a few miles when a certain amount of coins greased his palm. Ascanor covered the cost for all of them. He felt a sense of responsibility for them even being there, thanks to his father's unnatural whims. Luckily, the carriage was quite the affluent ride, so the price met the value.

The interior remained bare in the cargo hold, the rough and splintery planks bare and foreboding over the sacks of goods. A plain door separated it from the posh, but cramped cabin in the front. A U shaped bench faced the door, wrapping around the rest of the cabin. The bench had been lined with thick, porous cushions, but their support only lasted a few minutes on the rattling, winding rut.

The crowd huddled in the cabin while the courier steered the horses on a bench on the open front of the carriage. Sharyas grunted as the wheels struck another rock, knocking her head into Ascanor's shoulder. Ascanor felt like saying something, but when you've bribed your way onto a ride, you really are in no position to complain. Also, that last transaction felt like it lightened his coinpurse. He decided to follow Alandil's suit and tuck his own nose into a book. Not that he had any better way to pass the time, every time he leaned back to nap his horns clacked on the wall.

His eyes scanned the page and several pages passes before he realized he had no idea of what he'd been reading. He tossed the book into his knapsack disgustedly and turned his attention to the rolling, monotonous prairie outside. He leaned over the bench and poked his head out where the courier sat. "How do you ever stay sane out here?"

"It's best to not think about it." His tone ended the conversation.

Ereven's hydra yawned and rolled over on the floor. Over the past day its size had almost doubled, and it could no longer ride in his backpack. The rangers barely smuggled it on board. It took a lot of luck, some gold, and a barrel of pickled fish, but they managed to keep the beast a secret until they left town. On their first night in the wilderness the courier had gone to a salted meat crate and found his dinner taken by an unwelcome stowaway. Ascanor reluctantly parted with more gold, but the courier decided it best to keep his mouth shut. The hydra took up more room in the front than it did in the back. At the rate it grew, they'd be riding it to Demonsfell Manor rather than the carriage.

He couldn't deny the creature had an odd cuteness in a monster sort of way. He kept a close eye on it, it was a wild animal after all. A careful eye, and a hand on a knife, not the best way to live. But he desired living more than being ambushed. After a few hours passed, or maybe just a few minutes, he couldn't tell, Ascanor gave up on trying to pass time and let it move on its own plodding pace. His head began to slump and he inhaled sharply when he fell forward. A flask plopped into his lap.

"It helps to keep you awake. Also helps you pass the time." Ereven smiled.

Ascanor took a polite sip, but passed on the booze. The liquid razed his tongue and scraped like a steel hairball down his throat, but it tasted good, like an oaken forest on a dewy night. The alcohol dropped into his stomach like a lead weight, warming his esophagus. Ascanor didn't feel any more awake, and he feared how it would help him pass the time. With great relief, the sun's repeated exposure had finally baked enough drowsiness into him for sleep to take over.

Shadows draped him when his eyes opened. He still sat within the carriage, and the silhouetted figures on the rest of the bench meant none of his friends had moved either. He raised up and peeked out the window. They'd made camp in a barren patch on a small crest. The waves of grass blown by the gentle, lukewarm breeze in the pale moonlight swept across the plains and met at the base of the hill. Ascanor looked down, a small campfire smoldered while the horses grazed over at the scrub tree they'd been tied to. A lumpy bedroll next to the fire told of the courier. Ascanor smiled. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been up before dawn, able to enjoy the tranquil isolation of the wilderness in the sleepiest time of the day. His mind drifted to times where he'd been hard at work before bed, and when he nestled into the pillow he couldn't bring his mind to rest. Instead, he'd spent the rest of the night working, reveling in the belief this was his time, a feeling only those who enjoyed the night could feel. It'd always been easier on his eyes anyways.

He snapped out of his reverie when something squealed softly behind him. The infant hydra scrambled up onto the seat next to him and peered out over the window. Its heads poked into his hands and pockets, where Ereven ordinarily stored treats. Ascanor held out his hands to show them empty. "I don't have anything for you." It squealed a groan and flopped down unhappily onto the windowsill.

Ascanor looked pitifully at the beast. "Can't sleep either? You get that with an evil heritage."

The hydra cooed as Ascanor rubbed the scales of its chin. He smiled. "You're pretty cute after all." The hydra nestled against his side, purring softly. Ereven's word floated through his conscience. As soon as we get to the client, it'll be their problem. He had his doubts Ereven wouldn't hold up his word, but still, he couldn't let this poor creature fall into his father's claws. He scratched off a flake of wood and rolled it between his fingers. What could be done?

Sharyas startled him as she rose silently to her feet beside him. "You're up early."

He gestured to the sleeping hydra. "Both of us were."

"You know, you're getting closer to that thing than I thought you would."

"I guess in some way, he's almost like my brethren. We share a demon bloodline so, he's almost like a brother." He sighed. "We can't give him to my father."

"Why is that?"

"You don't...can't...know what he'd do with it. My father is...eccentric, I guess. If we leave it with him...well there's no telling what he'd do."

"Come on, Ascanor. It's a living being. He wouldn't do anything irrational like-"

"You don't know that!" He clapped a hand over his mouth as the other two stirred behind them.

Ereven rubbed his eyes and looked at the floor. "Where is he?"

Ascanor stood to the side. "Right here." The hydra looked up and saw his patron awake. It squealed happily and leapt into his waiting arms. He stuck a hand into his pocket and pulled out some of what was left of the salt beef. The hydra snapped it up and began to tear at it with its mouths.

The courier had awoken outside and began to kick up the coals and pile on new wood. "I'm making coffee. Anyone interested?"

Ascanor raised his hand, and Ereven and Alandil voiced a desire as well. Sharyas' nose wrinkled up before he even opened the sack of beans, and she quickly hurried off to scavenge what prey she could find in the stringy, tough prairie grasses. Ascanor took a swig of coffee. Ereven had provided the cups, and though the wood still aerated booze, the rich, cloying smell of the coffee masked it like a black brewed cloud over the sun. He watched with humor as the baby hydra sidled up slowly to the pile of coffee grounds and took a small bite. The creature reeled back with a disgusted squeak, spitting clouds of black grit as it attempted to rid its mouths of the bitter grounds as quick as possible.

Ascanor and Ereven shared a laugh. The tiefling smiled. "It looks like curiosity is as lethal to hydras as it is cats."

The warrior nodded. "Little guy's got to learn the world beyond the temple isn't going to be an easy adventure."

Ascanor's eyes departed from attention. "Mmm."

"Oi." The courier had tossed his gear up on top of the carriage. "If you guys look ahead, you'll find our first stop, Greenest."

Ascanor raised a hand over his eyes against the freshly birthed sun. "Can't be more than a half day's ride away."

"That's...correct. How did you-?"

"It's on the edge of the horizon away, correct? From this height, that can't be more than a half day away on horse."

The courier nodded. "Good to know." His voice betrayed a lack of interest. Ascanor's hand reached for his coinpurse, debating whether the gold it'd hemorrhaged was worth it after all.

They all jumped as Sharyas cleared the windowsill in one bound and polymorphed as she landed on the seat. She curled up in a huff. "Let's go before I set this measly place ablaze."

"Hells lady, if you hadn't taken off so quickly I could've told you there ain't nothin' out there to catch. Why'd you'd want to catch prairie mice anyways is beyond me."

As if in response, Sharyas' stomach audibly protested. Ascanor handed her a piece of salt beef to tide her over until they made it to Greenest. She took the shriveled piece of meat in her and sniffed it, taking a small nibble. She gagged on the first bite, sticking out her tongue at the saltiness, but finished it without complaint.

With a quick snap the courier sent the carriage into motion and they were on their way to Greenest. Ascanor watched as the titanic walls rose over their heads before they were swallowed by a gate like the mouth of a magnificent monster. The tapered portcullis even appeared as a uniform row of fangs in the midmorning gloom. A row of torches illuminated the way through the thick walls, and as quickly as they entered, the sun erupted the scenery around them into a glittering show of electrifying colors. The carriage passed rows upon rows of tents every color of the rainbow selling Faerun's finest goods. At least, they made you believe so.

The courier pulled the carriage around the back of an inn. Two men promptly exited the kitchen door and backed the carriage to the door. The courier dropped down into the cabin and opened the cargo door. "Once we unload these goods we'll be on our way to the place you're goin'. Without this weight we'll be there before sundown. This'll only take a minute. I'll be back." He disappeared into the cargo hold.

Ascanor sighed and looked out the window at the lovely view of a brick wall. On the outside, Greenest appeared to be a gem embedded in the plain, but up close the hideous truth of the city reared its ugly head. Even the blue sky had a smeared paleness to it in the city's haze of smoke. Someone shouted gratitude behind them and footsteps began to clap the wooden floor of the cargo hold. The courier quickly burst through the door and pulled himself up onto the outside bench. During their time inside, the horses had been detached and cared for. They stood firm at their bridles, their thin-cut coats gleaming with a new shine. The courier snapped the reins and with a flurry of metal on cobbles the carriage was on its way to Demonsfell Manor.

Ascanor's home sprawled between two rising hills. A long, graveled path marked the only presence of residence beyond the rutted, dirt road that had meandered off the main road for at least ten miles. The gravel road met the dirt run at its very end, before it too disappeared into the rolling, forested hills for another mile, where it opened up into a panoramic valley. A rusted, wrought-iron fence lined the property, marked only by two brick pillars that held the gate. A demon squat on both brick plinths, glaring down maliciously at everyone who passed the gate. A hulking golem stood on either side of the gate, a spear clasped between their sausage-sized fingers. As the carriage approached, their spears crossed over the gate.

Ascanor instructed the courier to stop back a small ways, and as quickly as they departed the carriage sped off back to more familiar roads. Ascanor used the opportunity to take a deep breath of familiar, fresh air. He hadn't realized how rank cities were until he'd left this. He strolled up to the golems and stared them in the eye. He smiled. "Evening, Dalgi, Celas."

Their spears parted. "Master." The gate opened and Ascanor beckoned the others inside.

Alandil caught up to the tiefling. "You have golem sentries?"

"The entire staff is made of constructs. Helps to cut down on the expenses. They also can't say no, and they're capable of vastly more than any of us."

Alandil nodded in thought. Beyond the gate, the gravel path continued to wind up a hill to the house. Along the way, various shrubs had been manicured into various shapes and designs. A row of hedges had been squared off and followed the gravel drive a foot off in the grass. At the foot of the house, a half-circle of white marble telescoped up to the wide, black oak door. Ascanor reached up, grabbed the brass knocker not unlike the one of his father's study, and sent echoing raps into the house. Iaris promptly opened the door, his glowing green eyes scrutinizing the tiefling for a moment. Its lips parted in a jagged, stony grin. "Good to see you sir. I see you've brought company. Your father has prepared the guest rooms. Please, do come in." It beckoned them in with a wave of its hand.

Ascanor waited patiently as they gasped at the vaulted, sloping ceilings. Alandil came up to the banisters and rubbed the metallic scales of the demons that squat on the tops. "Who was able to sculpt them so lifelike?"

"They're lifelike because they're real. Look around the neck." He pointed to the throat of a demon, where a thin, barely visible collar bound the demon to a chain embedded into the banister. As if on cue, the demon's eyes rolled to look at the tiefling, its snarl curling into a look of hatred. "Just about every sculpture on the property is a contained demon. They serve as another form of guardians. If someone does beat their way past the constructs, one spell will release all of them."

Sharyas raised an eyebrow. "You've got...a lot of security here."

"Well I've never personally added it up myself, but I could say what we have in here is worth more than the house itself. Mostly kept in Father's study, but I've got a few things around here and there." He sighed. "I guess I ought to give you the tour." He beckoned them over past the right side of the steps and through the double doors. "This is the kitchen." He shouted over the clamor. "Here we can prepare food for at least one hundred guests. I'm not sure of the maximum capacity, we've never had more than that. Over there on the right we've got eight ovens. That door on the far wall leads into the freezer, cooled by a routine cone of cold to maintain a temperature below freezing."

He led them out and up the steps. He pointed to the wooden door on the opposite wall. "That's Father's study." He left it at that. Halfway up, the steps parted and rose to either corner of the foyer, where an open air hallway stretched between them before leading back both wings.

He began to lead them back the right wing when Alandil cleared his throat. "Ascanor, I've been wondering for a while. Where are all the windows? I saw them outside, but there's nothing inside."

"Father never accustomed his eyes to daylight, and over the years that sensitivity got worse, so when the manor was built, he didn't have any windows put it. But a flat facade wouldn't really blend in, so he had fake windows put it. I enjoy the sun though, so I've got some in my own room. Which is right here. The guest rooms are the other four rooms around mine."

"What about the other wing?"

"Those are Father's quarters." He procured a key from a secret pocket in his overcoat and unlocked the door to his room. He pushed the door and stood aside so they could see. "Not much to look at. Four poster bed, private full bathroom, same thing your rooms will have. He pointed to the window on the far wall. "Down there is the courtyard. If you ever need some place quiet, you'll find it there. Need anything else?"

They shook their heads and heading into their own rooms. Ascanor closed the door behind him and collapsed onto his bed. He rolled onto his side, squinting as the evening sun winked its daily farewell through his window. He sighed, sinking into the down padding. He hadn't realized how much he'd regretted leaving it. A bedroll, no matter how much down it had, could never replace what he had at home. Something didn't settle right in the pit of his stomach, but he ignored the growing feeling.

Someone knocked quietly on his door. "Come in." The door opened slowly and Sharyas stepped inside. She wore a short-sleeved tunic and baggy trousers. Ascanor's heart thudded against his ribs as his eyes ran down her newly uncovered curves. Ascanor hadn't realized how slim she really was underneath her billowing gowns. He shook his head, pushing those foolish thoughts out of his mind as he saw Sharyas turn crimson. He held up his hands. "Oh, no, I'm-I don't..."

"No, you're fine. I understand, it's happened before. I just wanted to, well, you've been acting strange since we got here. I just wanted to know if you were alright."

He propped himself up against the wall and smiled. "I wish I could tell you." He opened his eyes as she nestled against him. Her eyes turned up to him. "Please?"

He sighed. "I guess. My father and I don't get along very well."

"Really?" She slapped her hand against her open mouth.

"Funny. Well, I know I've been really strong while you guys have been around, but, frankly, I'm not, okay? It's all luck, and he knows it too." He sighed. "Alandil was right this whole time. I've been his slave and too blind to notice it."

"And you take that from him?"

"Well, yeah." He answered as if the answer was obvious, but Sharyas frowned.

"Why? Why would you possibly put up with that?"

"You don't understand. You can't."

She sighed, frustrated, but accepting. "Okay, serve him, but you don't have to. You can leave and come with us. You're one of us now."

He shook his head. "It just can't be that easy to get away from him. He has his ways. Sharyas, look, I don't know how I've possibly pulled this off as far as I have but at one point it's going to bounce back on me. And the longer this lasts, the harder the rebound is going to be and what if it's with magic? I showed you guys what happens when magic is overdrawn and-"

She pressed a finger to his lips. "It's okay. Everything has gone right this time, you know it. You're just being paranoid. You told me you're here for me, so I'll be here for you. We'll share our burdens together."

"Sharyas you could _die_ if you're around me. Magic can't be trifled with in the way I do. I know I'm in too deep, but you, you're safe. Oh _gods_ I knew it all along. Every _single_ time something good comes into my life, someone comes and-" He cried out as she slapped him across the cheek.

"Ascanor you're acting delusional! _Nothing_ is going to happen to you. Snap out of it!"

He shook his head. "You're right. I guess I've been in too many books in my life. I just, I've been in this house too much. I never realized how cooped up I was until I met you guys, heard your stories, seen your life. And I want that, so _badly_. But I just can't."

"Maybe not by yourself, but who said you still had to be alone?"

His eyes widened. "You mean you'd help?"

"Not just me. I'm sure the others would be glad to help. If not, well, I have my ways." She winked.

He clasped her in a squeezing hug. "Thank you Sharyas."

She squawked in protest but returned his embrace. When he let her go, he had a sly grin on his face. "You know, not everything I've recovered over the years is kept in my father's study." He leaned over the bed and reached underneath, pulling out a padlocked, plain wooden box. He took a book off the shelf next to his bed and opened it, sliding out a small, unmarked key. When he flipped the lid, an empty bottom greeted them too. "In fact, this box itself is a trinket." He thrust his hand into the box, disappearing up to the wrist as it passed over the brim. Sharyas gasped, and he reached down in farther until everything below the elbow had been swallowed up. "A pocket plane capable of boundless storage. And that's not all I have to show you." He grinned. As if on cue, something moved and snorted inside the bathroom. Sharyas started, but Ascanor settled her with a hand on her shoulder. "Come here."

They moved into the bathroom. Between the basin and toilet, a copper tub sat in a wooden box frame. Ascanor knelt down and slid aside a panel in the side. A reptilian snout stuck out of the darkness, its stark yellow eyes peered first at the kitsune, then at Ascanor, when it gave a cheerful cry as it leapt into his arms. The tiefling laughed, rubbing his fingers between the creature's eye ridges. "This is Ziggy." Ascanor said. "He's a psuedodragon. I found and raised him from an egg. For some reason he...likes being in the dark. I suppose it's his nature. Normally, they have poison, but Ziggy's fire here is special. Makes him perfect for the manor, eh? Anyways, he posed a threat to the manor with his fiery breath, so we found him a small home where he can breath fire normally and enjoy the dark. We don't burn as much coal this way as well."

"He's a...tub warmer?"

"Well...yeah, I guess so. He doesn't see it that way." The pseudodragon, now satisfied, trotted back into his dim nest and curled up in a small, round pillow, watching them with reflective eyes. He yawned, as if to note his impatience.

"Alright, Ziggy, I get it. You could use your sleep." Ascanor slid the panel back. He noted the twilight beyond the bathroom window. "I guess we should be doing so as well."

Ascanor hadn't realized he'd gotten back into bed and fallen asleep until the early morning light dancing through his window split his eyelids. He rolled onto his back, noticing for the first time the sleeping form of Sharyas with her back to him. He flushed with shock when he realized he'd been hugging her against himself all night. He couldn't believe she'd stayed in his room all night, more of a grateful, loving sense of disbelief than a bad one. Sharyas began to stir as he rolled out of bed, and as Iaris entered the room she promptly got up as well. The golem gave her almost no glance, despite her informal clothing and bewildered attitude.

The golem bowed in front of Ascanor. "Your father will be expecting you after breakfast, sir."

He sighed. "Fantastic."

The golem's stony brow wrinkled. "I'm sorry, sir. I don't understand."

"I get it. Be in his study after breakfast. Dismissed."

The golem continued to frown, but bowed and left. Sharyas looked worriedly at him. "You sure you're going to be able to go through with this?"

He leaned up against the windowsill and studied the slowly brightening countryside. How had things changed? How did coming home drive his stomach into a nauseous storm? Just the very thought of that heavy door downstairs, and what lay behind it, almost forced him back into bed, as if it were the only safe place left for him in this world. But in the massive swamp of dark feelings, a wavering light stood firm, and it was sitting on the bed looking at him. Slowly, he nodded. "Let's get this day started."


End file.
